Fuseblown 

Posted 9:37 AM by Sean
I can't be sure, but my suspicion is that the power shut down in Yankee Stadium last night because that vererable old ballpark simply couldn't operate in world in which Ramon Ortiz shut down the Yankees. It just didn't seem possible to the old girl, I'm sure, and so she did the only thing she could - reboot.

Well, maybe she's right. As of Saturday morning, however, the rest of the world appears to have shared this delusion. Ramon Ortiz shut out the Yankees on four hits over eight innings in New York. He needed just 102 pitches to do so, and, though he did give up a couple of hard-hit balls that found gloves, actually looked like something resembling a top-of-the-rotation guy. Of course, we've seen that before - remember when he out-Pedroed Pedro? - but at this point I'm really not interested in looking gift horses in the mouth. Ortiz rocked last night, and that's all there is to it.

It was especially nice to see (hear, anyway) Garret Anderson go yard in the top of the ninth to give the Angels a couple of insurance runs. Anderson's power has been severely lacking lately, and it seems to be an open secret that he's just not right physically. There's been no discussion of surgery for him in the press that I've seen, so the troubling question is whether he'll be right in 2005. In terms of last night's game, although the runs turned out to be unneeded, 5-0 was a much more comfortable margin than 3-0, given the way the bullpen had nearly blown each of the previous two games.

Meanwhile, a few interesting tidbits in the Register this morning:

• The Shea Hillenbrand deal appears to be going nowhere, since Arizona is asking for players who did not clear waivers. This strikes me as fairly odd - wouldn't they know the waiver status of anyone they were asking for?
  
• Andres Galarraga says he's ready to join the big club. Galarraga is batting just under .300 in Salt Lake, and his power seems to have fallen off from his first few games, but it seems likely he'll join the club on September 1.
• Bengie Molina is scheduled to start today's game against the Yankees.
• Kelvim Escobar reports that he's throwing without pain from the blister he developed in his last start, and expects to make his scheduled start tomorrow afternoon.
  

30-day Yankee 

Posted 11:36 AM by Sean
The Rangers are trying to trade for Esteban Loaiza. According to the New York Times, "...one official from an American League team described the Rangers as desperate to add a starter."

Desperate to add Loaiza? Loaiza, whose ERAs in June, July, and August have been 5.35, 6.89, and 6.75, respectively?

Loaiza is scheduled to pitch against Aaron Sele tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully, the Angels will give the Yankees reason to consider the Rangers' offer. The Angels have hit Loaiza at a .337/.361/.547 pace; it'd be nice to see him a few more times this year in September.

Hillenbrand at Third 

Posted 10:51 AM by Sean
Okay, so word is the Angels are seriously considering trading for Arizona's Shea Hillenbrand, who has cleared waivers and would plug the hole at third now that Quinlan is done for the year. Though there's an outside chance that Glaus could return to the team in September, it would be strictly as a DH, and so the Angels' current options at third for the stretch run are Chone Figgins, whose bat is needed in the lineup but who plays an iffy third, and Alfredo Amezaga, who is defensively stellar but can't hit for beans.

Rob is critical of the Hillenbrand possibility, but to me it makes a lot of sense. Desperate times, etc. Anyway, here are Hillenbrand's splits:

v. LHP - 116 AB, .293/.341/.517
v. RHP - 298 AB, .309/.349/.443

Either of those lines actually looks pretty good. Hillenbrand is an average defender, and won't have the pop of Glaus, but he's certainly a better option than Amezaga, or the other waiver-clearers I've seen mentioned (namely Joe Randa and Jolbert Cabrera).

Equally as important, obtaining Hillenbrand to play third accomplishes another pretty important goal, which is to get Adam Kennedy the hell out of the lineup versus lefties. If Figgins plays third full-time, Kennedy more or less has to be the full-time second-baseman, and he's just not getting it done versus the southpaws.

Against righties, things would get a little complicated. Scioscia's not going to bench Kennedy entirely, so to get Figgins into the lineup - and Scioscia will get Figgins into the lineup - he'll need to make full use of his "superutility" status and plug him in at third, short, center, left, and right on various days, giving Hillenbrand and Eckstein occasional days off. On days when Figgins plays outfield, Scioscia would decide whether to give Guillen, Anderson, or Guerrero a day off, or plug them into the DH slot instead of Tim Salmon (who's actually hitting righties okay). And then there's Jeff DaVanon, who could play any outfield slot. There's no question a little juggling would be required, but I think it looks like a situation much preferable to the one we've got now.

The one concern I do have about Hillenbrand is his home/road splits:

Home: .340/.377/.532
Road: .270/.317/.398

Considering that Bank One Ballpark is generally regarded as a hitter's park, and Angel Stadium as a pitcher's park, that makes me nervous. Sometimes, though, you've just gotta risk it.

Cut the damn thing off and get an extra from Antonio Alfonseca 

Posted 10:08 AM by Sean
Escobar's subpar performance last night is apparently due in part to a blister on his finger. Okay.

Update: Escobar may miss his next start. Not okay.

Good news! No, wait - the other one - We're screwed! 

Posted 10:04 AM by Sean
Robb Quinlan's injury is nowbeing reported as being of the season-ending variety.

Fantastic.