METS: Even with his team on a five-game losing streak, New York Mets manager Willie Randolph was able to joke about his job status.
General manager Omar Minaya made the holiday weekend trip to Colorado, leading to speculation that Randolph is under evaluation and his job could be in jeopardy.
“I thought I saw him in the back sharpening his machete,” Randolph said before Saturday’s game against the Rockies. “I don’t know if that makes me feel too good. He saw me coming, kind of slipped it in his back pocket.”
Minaya and Randolph haven’t had any significant conversations this weekend outside of idle small talk.
“Obviously, when all this stuff is going on around me, when he shows up, ‘Why is he here?”’ Randolph said. “I’m comfortable around Omar and I told him he should come on more road trips, be around the team. I don’t feel any different about him being here.”
Minaya said Friday night that he came to Denver to voice his support of Randolph.
DODGERS: Los Angeles purchased the contract of prospect Clayton Kershaw from Class AA Jacksonville, and the 20-year-old left-hander is expected to make his big league debut in the finale of a three-game series against St. Louis today. Kershaw was the seventh overall pick in the 2006 draft out of Highland Park High School in Dallas. In Jacksonville, Kershaw was 0-3 with a 2.28 ERA and 47 strikeouts in 43 1/3 innings. The Dodgers designated Esteban Loaiza for assignment after activating the right-hander from the 15-day disabled list, and optioned right-handed reliever Yhency Brazoban to Class AAA Las Vegas.
PADRES: Catcher Michael Barrett, who spent 1 1/2 months on the disabled list with a sprained right elbow, was activated. To make room on the roster, Colt Morton was optioned to Class AA San Antonio. Morton was recalled on Thursday, a day after Josh Bard was injured when Albert Pujols slid into him at home plate. Bard was placed on the DL with a sprained ankle. The other catcher on the active roster is rookie Luke Carlin. BREWERS: Milwaukee optioned outfielder Tony Gwynn, Jr., to Class AAA Nashville and purchased the contract of infielder Russell Branyan from the Sounds. Gwynn is batting .200 with 1 RBI in 20 games with the Brewers. Branyan was batting .359 with 12 home runs and 36 RBI in 45 games with Nashville. Branyan has played with seven major league teams in 10 seasons. He spent the 2004 and 2005 seasons with Milwaukee. Gwynn, the son of Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, Sr., has failed to find regular playing time in parts of the past three seasons with the Brewers.
INDIANS: Pitcher Fausto Carmona was placed on the 15-day disabled list by Cleveland because of a strained left hip.
HALL OF FAME: Former San Francisco Giants star Orlando Cepeda was fined $100 in a drug case plea deal that led to the firing of a deputy district attorney in Fairfield, Calif. The Hall of Fame first baseman pleaded no contest Friday to possession of less than an ounce of marijuana after Deputy District Attorney Joe Camarata agreed to drop charges of possession of cocaine and a hypodermic syringe.
The plea deal angered Solano County District Attorney David Paulson, who fired Camarata hours before he was scheduled to resign.
The 70-year-old Cepeda was arrested May 1, 2007, after the California Highway Patrol stopped him for speeding on Interstate 80 about 40 miles northeast of San Francisco. Officers said they found marijuana, cocaine and a syringe in the car.
ROCKIES: Colorado Rockies placed shortstop Clint Barmes and right fielder Brad Hawpe on the 15-day disabled list and recalled outfielder Seth Smith and infielder Ian Stewart from Class AAA Colorado Springs. Barmes sprained the medial collateral ligament in his right knee when New York’s Jose Reyes slid into him at second base during the 10th inning of the Rockies 6-5, 13-inning win Friday night. PHILLIES: Philadelphia placed outfielder Jayson Werth on the 15-day disabled list because of a strained right oblique muscle and recalled outfielder T.J. Bohn from the minors.
ASTROS: Houston closer Jose Valverde said his face was “a little sore” Saturday but that he was otherwise OK after getting struck in the face with a line drive a night earlier in a 4-3 win over Philadelphia.
“Everything is good,” Valverde said. The line drive by Pedro Feliz grazed Valverde’s glove before smacking into his right cheek and ricocheting into left field. Valverde lay motionless for a few minutes, then hopped up and finished the game, earning his 15th save.
He had a headache and mild dizziness afterward and met with a team doctor. He woke up Saturday morning ready to pitch again, though Astros manager Cecil Cooper was leaning toward sitting him out on Saturday.
“That was pretty amazing stuff he did last night,” Cooper said. “He might just need a night to just think about it all.”
Associated Press
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