LEAGUE ACTION RESUMES

‘Wow, you go away for a few days and the floodgates open!’ ---The Little Dutch Boy
COMMISSIONER’S OFFICE VOIDS FLURRY OF DEALS

‘Wow, you go away for a few days and the floodgates open!’ ---The Little Dutch Boy

The above quote may be apocryphal, but accurately reflects the sentiments of BARB Commissioner Scott Hatfield, who sorted through his communications earlier this week and concluded that a series of interlocking deals involving more than a dozen players and $42 million in salary would all have to be voided, throwing the league into turmoil.

Why all the fireworks? “This is a sensitive matter,” intoned the Sage Czar of Baseball with a solemn expression. “There appears to be a discrepancy between a big-name pitcher’s reported salary and their actual compensation, and under the circumstances, a team can not be forced to complete a deal that effectively penalizes them with millions in undeclared salary. And, since the teams in question attempted to make other deals immediately after this one, well, you can see how this all shakes out. I think, in all fairness, that the deals submitted will have to be returned in confidence to their respective teams and they should be urged to renegotiate in good faith based on new information supplied by the league. If, after having done that, the teams still wish to revisit these deals and resubmit them to my office, that’s a possibility. But I want to stress that teams are in fact free not to complete the deals, inasmuch as the situation upon which these deals may have been based has changed.”

“And,” Hatfield added ominously, “This is why owners should NEVER submit multiple deals that are not approved, because it increases the chances of misunderstanding and hard feelings. It is kind of startling to see very little activity for weeks up to my vacation, and to see a flurry of dealing as soon as I am away for a few days. Why, I have even had one GM suggest that some sort of ‘conspiracy’ might be at work. As risible as that may seem, it just goes to show the sort of mistrust these sorts of deals tend to foster.”

TOP HURLERS SIDELINED

Worcester---The high-flying (39-27) Eliminators have the East’s best record, but they have definitely hit a bump in the road. In a span of just a few days, they not only lost starter Eric Bedard (5-3, 3.22), but also long man Chris Young---and they have good reason to be concerned about the health of Ryan Dempster (5-6, 3.45). This all comes at the same time as the club has dropped a season-high four straight contests. Insiders speculated that the up-and-down Jeremy Sowers or rookie Jair Jurjens might be called upon to take up the slack for the Elims, who still own a five-game lead in the Eastern Division.

Meanwhile, Yuma ace Roy Halladay (8-3, 2.75) was lost for at least two weeks with an injury that, while not believed to be serious, definitely puts a crimp on the plans of the Firebirds to catch and surpass its rivals in the Western Division. Yuma is rumored to be close to righting its inconsistent bullpen and have made up serious ground, improving to 37-27, the fourth-best mark in the league but still behind three games behind the Darwin Finches in the West. And, let’s face it, Jake Peavy doesn’t seem likely to make that many starts down the road! Meanwhile, while Darwin’s pitching has not been stellar so far this year, their unusual depth has allowed them to weather losses to their rotation (Scott Kazmir, Oliver Perez, John Smoltz) that would’ve crippled most clubs. Case in point: the newly-rechristened Madtown Murlocs were forced to place starter Ervin Santana (1-4, 3.43) back on the DL, another setback for a youngster who missed most of April and May after an earlier injury. With Brett Myers (2-5, 7.25) already sidelined and Liriano and Snell combining to go 6-13, the hole they are in just got deeper . . .

IN OTHER BARB ACTION:

YUMA 6, DARWIN 2

WP: Kevin Slowey (1-3, 1.95)
LP: Zack Greinke (6-3, 3.30)

Rookie Kevin Slowey gave his beleaguered staff a break with a complete game effort for his first win of the season, and rookie Adam Jones had three hits to spark a four-run fourth against Zack Greinke, as the Firebirds (38-27) moved within two games of the West-leading Finches.


BROOKLYN 9, FRESNO 5

WP: Brett Masterson (2-0, 1.50)
LP: Mike Pelfrey (3-7, 6.62)
SV: Rodriguez (15)

Regulators pitching coughed up four home runs to Moab hitters, including Chase Utley, who had four hits in all to lead the Moabs attack and help overcome a poor outing by Brooklyn starter Jon Lester (2.2 IP, 5 ER, two home runs allowed).


TEXAS 8, LOS ANGELES 7 (10 innings)

WP: Will Ohman (4-1, 4.34)
LP: Brett Cecil (0-1, 13.50)

Andre Ethier had three hits, including a walkoff RBI single in the bottom of the tenth to help lift the Tornadoes to a win in a game that saw them blow a 7-1 lead in the seventh, spoiling a great outing by rookie Derek Holland (7.2 IP, 5 H). Rookie Brett Cecil took the loss, the seventh Flyers hurler to work in the game after starter Aaron Harang was sent to the showers in the second.

BLACK MESA 8, MADTOWN 3

WP: Kevin Millwood (6-4, 5.83)
LP: Jered Weaver (5-7, 4.35)

Ian Kinsler had three hits and Vernon Wells hit a pair of home runs (#11 and #12) to lead Black Mesa’s attack, as the Anomalies BARB-leading (362 runs scored) offense punished the newly-reminted Murlocs, on the road in Madtown.

POTTSYLVANIA 6, CASSELTON 2

WP: Braden Looper (2-5, 4.37)
LP: Johann Santana (7-4, 3.20)

Ryan Theriot had two hits, including an RBI double that sparked a four-run third against Casselton ace Johann Santana, as the Creepers (31-28) won their fourth straight game at home. Alexis Rios hit his fourth HR of the year in a losing cause for the Horned Toads.

FROSTBITE FALLS 7, WORCESTER 0

WP: Cole Hamels (7-3, 3.65)
LP: Ryan Dempster (5-7, 3.81)

Cole Hamels, given lots of run support, was given every opportunity to go all the way and finished with a six-hit shutout on 127 pitches for the Squirrels, who got RBI’s from six different hitters to send the East-leading Eliminators to their fifth straight defeat.

‘Wow, you go away for a few days and the floodgates open!’ ---The Little Dutch Boy