It's the first weekend of September, meaning rosters have just expanded. Throughout this month, you'll see teams bring up players, mostly to sit on the bench. Some will get spastic starts, some will pinch hit, it all depends where the parent club is in the standings. Not all players will be up right away, because some minor league teams make the minor league playoffs. As they're eliminated, you'll see more youngsters be called up. The only people eligible to be called up are players that are on the 40 man roster. These players are normally high draft picks who got a major league contract, players who were optioned to the minors earlier in the season, and players who were signed as depth but are still in the minors. These players won't have a big affect on the pennant races though, because if they could affect it, the clubs would have called them up in July.
There are a few good series happening this weekend. There are only two that should impact the playoff races, but there is another one that could be a playoff preview. The Rangers go to Boston this weekend, and this could be a divisional series matchup. The pitching match ups aren't ideal, but it should still be a good series. Texas will throw Holland, Lewis, and Harrison, while Boston will use Miller, Bedard, and Lackey. While I think Texas has the advantage, the Rangers aren't as good against lefties, and Boston will throw two at them. Getting Adrian Beltre back should help them against lefties, and should solidify them as the division winners over the Angels.
The big series in the National League is the Diamondbacks at the Giants. This should be a great series. The match ups are Saunders vs Cain, Kennedy vs Lincecum, and Vogelsong vs Hudson. All three games in this series are critical for the Giants. They're six games back with six left against Arizona. Arizona meanwhile, has a very easy schedule for the final month, the only team that they face with a record above .500 is the Giants. For San Francisco to win the division, they have to start playing better, and I think that they have to take at least five of the six games that they play against the Diamondbacks.
The Tigers and the White Sox square off in a series pivotal to the American League Central. Detroit is 5.5 games ahead of both Chicago and Cleveland. Verlander pitches the first game of the series against Chicago, meaning he will also pitch the final game of the following series, which happens to be against the Indians. The Indians play the Royals this weekend, in a series where they have to take two of three. The Indians face Bruce Chen tonight, who has tended to shut the Tribe down over the years. In the other two games, the Indians will throw David Huff and Jenmar Gomez. The Indians have set their rotation up like this so that the next series against the Tigers they can use Jimenez, Carmona and Masterson. The Tigers will have a target on their back for the rest of the season in the Central, with half of their remaining games against the White Sox and Indians. If either Cleveland or Chicago is going to make a push to end the season, it has to start this weekend.
Around the League:A few days ago the Giants designated Miguel Tejada and Aaron Rowand for assignment. It only took the Giants 18 months to figure out that Tejada couldn't play shortstop anymore, so that's good of them. Aaron Rowand hasn't been the same player since they got him. He hit 3.09//374/.519 in his contract year in Philadelphia in 2007 at age 29. He them went from a good hitters park to a good pitchers park while hitting the big three zero. In four years as a Giant, Rowand has hit .253/.310/.394, and was well overdue to be cut.
Every year teams sign declining players to multiyear, multimillion dollar contracts, only to see the players underperform, especially near the end of the contract. If you have the money to spend, it's not bad, especially if you get a few good years out of the player. The big problem is that teams are too stubborn to fix the problem, and the keep playing the player. It's usually better for everyone involved if the clubs cut the player. The player still gets guaranteed money, he can go find a new team who might actually want them, the club can put a more deserving player in his spot, and open up a roster spot for a younger player.
Stephen Strasburg is set to make his first major league start of the year this next Tuesday again the Dodgers. Some people think that this is a bad idea because he might get hurt again. As if pitching in the minors is fine, but once he steps on the big league mound his arm is going to fall off, these people are either really smart and know something that I don't, or they're really dumb. The minor league season is over, and If the Nationals want Strasburg to continue his rehabilitation against live hitters, it has to be in the majors. If the Nationals keep Strasburg on normal rest, his first two starts will be against the Dodgers and Astros. Besides Matt Kemp, there's not a lot of difference between these teams and International League teams. The Nationals are handling the Strasburg situation very well, they are being patient and moving him along at a pace which isn't too stressful, but keeps him from getting stagnant. He and Bryce Harper are the future of the team, and I'm sure the Nationals are planning for the future.
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