7:05 PM, FSNP, WPGB
Brian Lawrence (1-0, 4.09) vs. Tony Armas (2-3, 6.13). Now here's an uninspiring matchup.
A couple notes for today:
-P- Frequent BD poster Matskralc has a new Bucs blog.
-P- The Orioles signed Matt Wieters right before the deadline, paying him a $6 million bonus. Also, the Rays signed top pick David Price to a six-year major league deal worth a guaranteed $8.5 million. A bunch of other top picks, including #2 overall pick Mike Moustakas, also signed right before the deadline.
Anyway, regarding Wieters - this is all it took? An extra $3.5 million - about a quarter the amount we just spent on Matt Morris - plus an extra seven bucks for some Maalox? I'll take that any day. We'll see if the contract contains any extra clauses, such as whether it might be a major-league deal.
-P- From the Post-Gazette article linked above, the Tigers promoted Jair Jurrjens - one of the pitchers the Bucs would've reportedly gotten in the Jack Wilson deal - from Class AA Erie to the majors. The top three rungs of the Tigers' farm system go Erie, Toledo, Detroit - getting promoted from Class A+ Lakeland must actually be a little depressing. Anyway, Jurrjens had 94 strikeouts in 112.7 innings for Erie, and a 3.20 ERA. He's 21.
-P- The D'Backs cut Byung Hyun Kim. I know Kim is troubled, or whatever, but he's 28 and he has 772 strikeouts in 807 career innings. Someone will find a role for him.