All Things Bubba

Well, the Reds traded Jonathan Broxton to division rival Milwaukee today. It was evident well before this, but that trade makes it official: put a fork in the Reds, they're done.

Tony Cingrani still has not thrown a pitch since mid-June. He has some kind of shoulder problem. Which is apparently much more serious than they thought at first, or at least that they let on.

No reason to rush him back now, that's for sure. Hopefully he'll be healthy and ready to go next season.

For teams with more hope than the Reds, tonight is the deadline for setting up the roster for the postseason. Rosters expand tomorrow; any player you want to use in the postseason must be added to the roster tonight.

In theory. In practice, any player anywhere in the team's organization as of midnight tonight is eligible for the postseason, if they are substituted for someone on the DL.

The Royals plan to add three players to their roster tonight, all young prospects. Not sure how they will make room, but they have only three players on the DL. And one of them, Hosmer, is expected to be back for the postseason, so it's really two spots for roster substitution. Most teams have more. Some even stock up the DL at the deadline, to increase their options. This might be bad news for Paul Janish's chances of making the postseason roster.

The Omaha Storm Chasers game is in rain delay now. They have a good chance of making the PCL post season, so the Royals might want to wait to call up players until after it's over. But they're going to have a bit of a roster crunch, at least if they want to use any of the late callups in the playoffs.

I dunno, normally, I'd expect Janish to have a good chance of being added to the postseason roster. But the Royals are different. Maybe it's because they're not used to being in the postseason, but they don't seem to be doing the kinds of things teams usually do in their situation.

Not to mention, they're kind of collapsing. They might let their postseason opportunity slip away.

Labels: Paul Janish, Tony Cingrani

Been offline the past couple of weeks. I joined my parents on an "adventure" trip to Africa. Which meant no running water, no electricity, and definitely no Internet. (Not to say all Africa is like that - we spent a lot of time off the beaten path.)

I ended up sitting next to a professional athlete in the plane on the way back. Not a baseball player. A basketball player - Tanzania-born Hasheem Thabeet. Man, is he tall.

Anyways, I returned to find a lot had happened in the world of baseball. A new commissioner has been named. The Reds have fallen below .500 and are solidly in fourth place in the division; their season is likely done, though apparently owner Bob Castellini is still hoping.

The Reds have been decimated by injury. Including Tony Cingrani. He has not thrown a pitch since June, and at this point it seems unlikely he'll return this year. Supposedly he'll start a throwing program soon, but with the Reds having nothing to play for except draft picks, there's no reason to push him.

Things seem to be looking up for Paul Janish, though. He is en fuego for the Omaha Storm Chasers. He went 2 for 4 with a double and a home run last night (off lefty John Lannan). He's OPSing .877 for the Storm Chasers. .345 / .408 / .469

And the Royals took over the top spot in their division while I was gone. They are looking like a legit playoff team. That's good news for Janish. With the post-season roster rules, many teams like to carry a player like Janish: versatile guy who can be a solid backup at SS. Be interesting to see if they add him to the roster before the Aug. 31 deadline. (Even if they don't, he can still be added later.)

Janish also got a shout-out from former teammate and still good friend Jay Bruce. Bruce participated in the ice bucket challenge, and challenged Janish to do the same. Which probably means Janish will be getting an ice water bath and writing a check soon. All for a good cause, of course.

Labels: Paul Janish, Tony Cingrani