Nationals' Pitcher Tanner Roark .... Wait, Who?

Exactly .... 

Going into tonight’s game between the Washington Nationals and the Oakland Athletics I know I had ever heard of Tanner Roark. Granted I do follow the American League more so than the National League, still I found it odd that I had never heard of the National’s big, although not necessarily tall or heavy, right-hander. The Nationals are a team I have a soft spot for. There’s no real rhyme or reason for it except that they have two of my favorite former A’s, starter Gio Gonzalez and reliever Jerry Blevins. I assumed I would know something about the all of the other pitchers in their rotation besides Gonzalez, which I did with the exception of Roark. When Roark held the A’s to two hits in 7.2 inning, I thought, “alright, what’s with this kid?”

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In a baseball sense he is a kid even though he made his first pitching appearance at the age of 26 last season. He pitched barely over the rookie status limit of 50 innings (53.2) last season in just 14 games, five of them starts. So going into this season he’s like the pitcher he faced Saturday the A’s Sonny Gray. He is still practically a rookie, but is not considered one under Major League Baseball’s official rules. Gray pitched 64.0 innings last season with Oakland. I got a little comfort regarding my ignorance from that, but I still can’t understand why I hadn’t really heard of this guy. Especially since he has already pitched a complete game shutout this year.

To Read More about Tanner Roark CLICK HERE! Brought to you by Outside Pitch Sports Network LLC

You can find us on Twitter @OakAsSocksGrl and @OPSN_MLB.

Pujols Joins Elite 500 HR Club

The Los Angeles Angels’ Albert Pujols is one of baseball’s all-time greatest hitters. He’s had a couple slow years since joining the Angels after spending 11 seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, but he proved that he is still one of baseball’s best Tuesday when the Angels took on the Washington Nationals. The Angels won the game by a score of 7-2.

Of course their win was not the story of the night. The night was all about Pujols. He became the first player in Major League Baseball history to hit home runs numbers 499 and 500 in the same game and also became a member of an elite club joined only by the best hitters ever to play the game. Members of the 500 home run club include names like Mickey Mantle, Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Jimmie Foxx, Reggie Jackson and now Albert Pujols.

To Read More CLICK HERE! Brought to you by Sports Unbiased.

You can find us on Twitter @OakAsSocksGrl and @SportsUnbiased1

Also here's the video of Pujols' historic 500th career home run!! :-)

National's Bryce Harper Benched During Game

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The Washington Nationals’ young star outfielder Bryce Harper was pulled from Saturday’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals during the bottom of the sixth inning by manager Matt Williams.  Harper was replaced by Kevin Frandsen. The 21-year, old two-time All-Star was removed from the game due to, the way Williams put it, his “inability to run 90 feet.” That cost Harper the last three innings of the game and the at-bat that could have potentially won the game for Washington. Williams continued saying,

“Lack of hustle. That’s why he came out of the game. He and I made an agreement, this team made an agreement, that when we play the game, that we hustle at all times.”

For more on this story and video footage Harper and comments by Williams CLICK HERE! Brought to you by Outside Pitch Sports Network LLC

Find us on Twitter @OakAsSocksGrl and @OPSN_MLB

MLB News: Rick Ankiel Retires

Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images

Rick Ankiel officially announced his retirement Wednesday via St. Louis broadcaster Dan McLaughlin who made the announcement during the St. Louis Cardinals Spring Training Broadcast. This brings to an end the career of a very unique and intriguing ballplayer.

Drafted straight out of high school in 1997 by the Cardinals, Ankiel made his major league debut as a pitcher in 1999 at the age of 20. In 2000 he was rated at the number one overall prospect in baseball by Baseball America. After having a good regular season Ankiel faltered in the playoffs. He completely lost control of his pitches. He had two very poor starts, one in the NLCS against the Braves and the other in the NLCS against the Mets. He lasted no more than three innings in each start.

Ankiel continued to struggle in 2001 and was soon sent to the minors. Shortly after he had Tommy John surgery and besides on appearance pitching in relief for the Cardinals in 2004, it looked as though his career was at its end.

Read the rest of the story on OPSN - Outside Pitch Sports Network, a Major League Baseball Advanced Media Afiliate

Balfour to Sign with Tampa Bay Rays

Is the " Grant Balfour Saga" Finally Over? Can the All-Star closer RAGE again? 

Fortunately for the former Oakland Athletic it appears the answer is yes! After first being rejected by the Orioles for medical reasons and just last week being in talks the Washington Nationals to possibly become their eighth-inning set up man, it was announced today that the Tampa Bay Rays are most likely the team that Balfour will end up with and he will not have to take a set up role. He will be able to pitch the inning he loves. Balfour is a closer through and through and he loves to RAGE in the ninth! According to Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal the contract with the Rays is for two years and $12 million, only $3 million less than his potential contract was going to be with the Baltimore Orioles.

Read more at Sports Unbiased - your site for all Sports News, Polls and Predictions

Nats Interested in Balfour; Overbay inks Minor League Deal with Brewers

Nationals Interested in Balfour

Free agent closer Grant Balfour may have finally found a home with the Washington Nationals — or at least they have expressed their interest, according to a source at  MLB.com. Balfour was an All-Star closer for the Oakland Athletics last season. Unfortunately for Balfour, the Nationals have had their closer,Rafael Soriano, signed to a two-year, $28-million contract since January 2013. If Balfour ultimately makes a deal with Washington, he would have to pitch in the set-up role. 

After leaving the A’s via free-agency this off-season, both Balfour and the Baltimore Orioles expected him to be their new closer. But after a physical on Balfour, the Orioles rescinded their offer of $15 million for two years because of issues with his wrist and knees, though it was first reported that it may have been his throwing shoulder. Balfour was unhappy about this and voiced his opinion to the media. He made a statement to The San Francisco Chronicles’ Susan Slusser who tweeted,

Balfour told me he told (Orioles’ executive vice president Dan) Duquette that he deserves to be treated w/ respect and he was not & #Orioles just lost their best chance at winning.

He is also quoted by Slusser as saying,

I am 100 percent fine. I am the All-Star pitcher I was last season. My shoulder is fine. Everything’s fine. I’m ready to come out there in the ninth inning, do what I do.

Last season with the Athletics, Balfour, 36, acquired 38 saves in 65 games and posted a 2.59 ERA. He also beat Oakland’s record, previously held by Hall of Fame closer Dennis Eckersley, for consecutive saves.

As of today, the Nationals’ roster is at the 40-man limit, so if they were to sign Balfour, someone would have to be traded or designated for assignment. According to a baseball source that could be reliever,Drew Storen. Storen struggled towards the end of the 2012 season for Washington and in the National League Division Series that year. He lost his job as closer in 2013 when Soriano was signed. During the 2013 season, his struggles continued to mount and he was eventually sent back to Triple-A Syracuse but did finish the season with the Nationals.

As the Nationals are in the process of fine tuning their roster before Spring Training and Grant Balfour is still available and looking for a place to play in 2014, this might just be the right match.

Read more on MLB Nation - delivering the latest news, insights, and analysis from around the league.

Overbay Inks Minor League Deal with Brewers

Even quite a few other options available to play first base in 2014, the Milwaukee Brewers signed Lyle Overbay to a minor-league deal with an invitation to Major League Spring Training. The signing was announced on Twitter earlier today by the team’s official account.

This comes as a bit of a shock as just last week they also signed Mark Reynolds to a minor league contract complete with an invite. Not to mention the fact that there will be three other players, Juan Francisco, Sean Halton and Hunter Morris, also competing for a spot at the big league level.

Overbay, 36, has played with a number of teams in his career including the Brewers. In his two seasons with Milwaukee, Overbay hit.289 with 35 homers and 87 doubles, setting a club record in his first year with 53 doubles.  He spent last season with the New York Yankees appearing in 142 games and hitting .240 with 14 home runs and 59 RBI.

After first breaking into the majors with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Overbay was traded to the Brewers in 2003 and became their starting first baseman in 2004 and 2005. He was then traded to the Toronto Blue Jays where he spent five seasons after which he signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates as a free agent in 2010. Since then he has played with the Pirates, Diamondbacks, Boston Red Sox and the Yankees and has been released three times.

OverBay, who turns 37 this week, has played in 1,446 games over his thirteen-year career hitting .267 with 342 doubles, 147 home runs and 640 RBI.

Read More on MLB Nation - delivering the latest news, insights, and analysis from around the league.

Billy Beane Trading Machine ....

MLB's Winter Meetings, The A's and the End of The Hot Stove Season

Major League Baseball's Annual Winter Meetings are held for four days every December. This years' meetings were held in Lake Buena Vista, Florida beginning on Monday December 9th and concluding with the Rule Five Draft on Thursday December 12th. The last day of the meetings is usually considered the end of what is called MLB's "Hot Stove Season."  Transactions between teams can be and are still often made after this extravaganza that is attended by general managers and representatives from all 30 MLB organizations, more than 160 minor league teams, international players and of course the media.

In the week before the meetings Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics were on the move completing six transactions in nine days. Beginning with the signing of free agent and starting pitcher Scott Kazmir and continuing with five trades that brought the likes of closer Jim Johnson from the Baltimore Orioles, OF Craig Gentry from the Texas Rangers and RHP Luke Gregerson from the San Diego Padres to the Oakland Athletics. Through those trades the A's did not send any big names to their opposition instead trading away some of their top minor league prospects like OF Michael Choice, catcher David Frietas and second baseman Jemile Weeks.

With all that activity leading up to the winter meetings it seemed that the Athletics might have a nice quiet four days ahead of them as has been their method of operation in recent years. Billy Beane, having just been voted MLB Executive of the Year by Baseball America for the second time (the first coming in 2002), is not known for enjoying the busy, chaotic, fast paced atmosphere of the winter meetings. Usually preferring to come late, leave early and keep as low a profile as possible for such a big name general manager. The 2013 winter meetings went a little differently for Beane who while still arriving late and leaving early managed to conduct two big trades in two days.

The first trade involved starting pitcher, southpaw Brett Anderson. The A's have quite a bit of depth to their starting rotation already with six guys competing for the coveted five spots. Anderson, 25, has been brilliant with the A's in the past and was even their opening day starter last season. Unfortunately the young pitcher has been sidelined much of his career with injuries ranging from requiring Tommy John Surgery to last season breaking a bone in his left foot while warming up for a game. He would be commanding $8 million from the A's this season. With an already packed pitching staff of mainly rookies on much lower salaries, Anderson seemed the most likely to go.

During the meetings talks about Anderson between the Athletics and the Colorado Rockies intensified quickly. Anderson was traded to Colorado along with cash considerations for left-hander Drew Pomeranz, 25 and Class A right-hander Chris Jensen, 23.

Lenny Ignelzi, Associated Press

Pomeranz, also a big lefty similar to Anderson, went 0-4 with a 6.23 ERA with the Rockies last season though he spent more time in the minors with Class AAA Colorado Springs. He was a top prospect for the Indians, drafted in the fifth round in 2010 but has yet to take his strong potential and convert it to major league production. Still the A's believe he has time to come into that production as and the A's with the depth of their rotation have time to spare. Beane said,

"He's only 25 and a lot of people still think very highly of his abilities, and we felt it was a good time to acquire him. Guys like this aren't that easy to acquire -- this young with this kind of upside."

Rumors of moving Anderson had been heard a lot since the end of the 2013 MLB season but suddenly in a surprise move Beane traded famed Twitter extraordinaire and fan favorite left handed reliever Jerry Blevins to the Washington Nationals for their Minor League Player of the Year, speedy out fielder Billy Burns.

Blevins would seemingly be a huge loss for the Athletics' being one of the few left handers in their bullpen, their longest tenured player and the team's player representative. Yet since the A's acquired Pomeranz who can be a bullpen option and fellow southpaw Fernando Abad from an earlier trade with the Nationals their bullpen should still be one of the best in baseball. When asked about the trade Blevins, who made his MLB debut with the A's in 2007,  took the news in stride saying,

"I'm kind of sad to say goodbye to Oakland but It's exciting to try National League baseball. Still the Oakland organization will always have a piece of my heart. It's bittersweet."

He even posted a photo on his Twitter account of him making what he called a "seamless transition" to the Nationals.

@JerryBlevins_13 on Twitter

The picture was of him in a homemade Nationals uniform, a gray shirt and red had with the Nationals' logo pinned on. His close friend, fellow reliever and well know Twitter comedian, Sean Doolittle talked seriously of Blevins saying,

"You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who had more of an impact on my career than Jerry. Any questions, I went to him first. He was my throwing partner, the guy I learned how to prepare from, the guy I'd go over scouting reports with. We drove to the field together. There was definitely a bond there. ... For all intents and purposes, Jerry was like the dad in the bullpen, the leader."

Besides the loss of a fan and player favorite in Blevins the A's came out of the winter meetings stronger than when they went in. With most of the work apparently done in the nine days leading up to the meetings no one expected Beane to make two more trades and to do so in such quick fashion. Beane told reporters that the trades were made to strengthen the Athletics' farm system after having traded away a few of their highly touted top prospects like Michael Choice.

The A's are known for their stellar farm system and Beane apparently wanted it to stay that way. Burns should start the season at AAA Sacramento and could be a likely replacement for CF Coco Crisp after the 2014 season.Though the A's did not participate in the Major League phase of the Rule Five Draft, they did pick up RHP Tim Atherton from Minnesota in the Triple A Phase to help bolster their farm system,

There was talk from both fans and critics that Beane should have gone after a big bat that would help the A's get past the American League Division Series woes that have plagued them for over the last decade. But many forget that RF Josh Reddick played with an injured wrist most of last season. If he were to return to his 2012 form the A's should be just fine. In 2012 the Gold Glove winner finished the season with 32 home runs and 85 RBI.

Overall the Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics have come out of the last two weeks looking more than ready to win their third straight American League Western Division title in 2014.