Artest's peculiar comments

It took a hot minute for Yao Ming to make a snarky comment about son-to-be teammate Ron Artest's tumultuous history in the NBA, including the infamous Nov. 2004 brawl with fans at The Palace at Auburn Hills.

"Hopefully, he's not fighting anymore and going after a guy in the stands," Yao said, according to the (Houston) Chronicle.

And it took the length of a cocaine heartbeat for Artest to respond in only a manner that Artest would respond.

"If you go back to the brawl, that's a culture issue right there," Artest added, according to the report. "Somebody was disrespecting me, so he's got to understand where I'm coming from. People that know me know that Ron Artest never changed."

While I'm still slightly befuddled at the Houston Rockets making the trade for a small forward when they've already got one (Shane Battier), I'm even more confused as to why Artest would make a comment like that.

Artest has never been one to clearly represent himself in interviews and this is just another example. Ron Artest never changed? So Artest fought because he was repping his culture. OK, fine. But if he hasn't changed and wants to continue to represent his culture, does that mean if another grim fight situation arises that he'll begin throwing haymakers? That's lunacy. That's Ron Artest.

Pudge for... Farnsworth?!

Holy crap!

Someone please talk me off the ledge.

The Detroit Tigers just traded Hall of Fame catcher Pudge Rodriguez to the NY Yankees for relief pitcher Kyle Farnsworth.

Before I get mad, let's quickly break this down:

For Tigers:
1) The bullpen is tired for it's extra work early in the season.
2) The bullpen has been erratic (see: Jones, Todd; Rodney, Fernando) and injured (see: Zumaya, Joel; Rodney, Fernando).
3) Farnsworth has a 3.65 ERA and 11 holds this season in 44 1/3 innings. Probably one of the best seasons in his career.
4) Pudge will be a free agent after this season. He's making $13 million this year and it's likely Detroit won't pay him that amount. He is, afterall, going on 37. For a catcher, that's old.
5) Super utility player Brandon Inge has split time with Pudge at catcher this season. Inge last caught a full season in 2003 before the Tigers signed Pudge.

Against Tigers (Now I get mad):
1) You just traded a Hall of Fame catcher who's on fire right now and hitting a few points below .300.
2) Inge, while an accomplished defender and outstanding athlete, doesn't have the consistent bat as Pudge. Inge Ks WAY too much and hits terrible for average.
3) Inge should be at third base full-time anyway, with Carlos Guillen at first base and Miguel Cabrera at DH.
4) You just got Kyle Freakin' Farnsworth. I don't care how hard the guy throws or how much bullpen help you need, Farnsworth is not the answer. He's erratic and a model for inconsistency throughout his career.
5) You just got Kyle Freakin' Farnsworth STRAIGHT UP for a Hall of Fame catcher.

The Tigers are 5.5 games out of first place in the AL Central. This season is far from over. Yet it seems like Detroit has sort of given up when you look at this trade.

I gotta' go. I'm steaming right now.

Braves want top pick Parker for Teixeira

SI.com's Jon Heyman reported about three hours ago in his MLB trade report blog that the Atlanta Braves are asking for one of the Arizona Diamondbacks' top pitching prospects - Max Scherzer or Jarrod Parker - in a trade for first baseman Mark Teixeira.

The Diamondbacks and Braves are still said to be "apart'' in talks involving Mark Teixeira. Arizona is telling Atlanta it won't include either of its top two pitching prospects -- Max Scherzer or Jarrod Parker -- in a deal with first baseman Chad Tracy, whom they've already offered to Atlanta as part of a different package.

The Diamondbacks would be nuts to trade Parker, the No. 9 overall pick in 2007. Perhaps I'm biased because Parker is a local kid (Norwell High School) who I got to cover in high school. The 19-year-old is pitching in the Class Low-A Midwest League, so as the Fort Wayne Wizards beat writer, I've kept my eye on him.

Parker's got electric stuff. His fastball is clocked in the mid 90s. He's also got a slider and changeup working for him. Parker is only a year out of high school and has only scratched the surface of his potential. I spoke with Arizona's director of minor league operations A.J. Hinch back in May and he was quite high on Parker.

If you don't know much about Parker, here is a feature I wrote about him and here are his stats.

This foolishness of this trade can surmised thusly: Moving a sky-is-the-limit 19-year-old pitcher for a two or three month rental of a first baseman (Teixeira is due to hit the free agent market after this season and his agent Scott Boras will likely want to cash in) is simply not a smart move.

The Sandberg interview

Nothing earth-shattering, but Ryne Sandberg did talk after Monday's game.

A little background information: Monday was Sandberg's first day back with his team, the Peoria Chiefs, in five days. Sandberg was in Cooperstown, NY for Hall of Fame induction festivities. He was not with the Chiefs when the brawled with the Dayton Dragons last Thursday.

“It’s very unfortunate and not what we teach here,” said Sandberg, who was not with the team when the fight happened. “It’s an unfortunate situation. A young player really didn’t know any better and he made a really big mistake..."

Sandberg interview coming on Tuesday

I got some decent stuff out of Ryne Sandberg tonight but I can't post the story or quotes until they are published at News-Sentinel.com.

I'll have the story up on Tuesday morning. He did talk about last Thursday's brawl.

Interview with Ryne Sandberg

Hall of Famer and former Chicago Cubs second baseman Ryne Sandberg will rejoin his Peoria Chiefs on Monday in Fort Wayne after spending this weekend in Coopertown, NY for Hall of Fame inductions.

Yes, I'll ask the manager what he thinks about the brawl that happened while he was away. I likely won't get much of an answer for a few reasons: a) he's probably on some sort of gag order from the Midwest League and b) he wasn't in Dayton on Thursday when the Chiefs and Dragons fought.

I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't ask him about the fight, the consequences, etc. There's some positive things to talk about with him, as well. The Chiefs will play the Kane County Cougars in the first minor league game ever at Wrigley Field. How cool. Also, Sandberg will be at a pre-game ceremony in which a baseball he signed will be presented to a winning bidder. Proceeds will go to Safety Village, a local charity.

Q&A with San Diego Padres' Grady Fuson

Since it's been published at News-Sentinel.com, I can post my Q&A session with the San Diego Padres' Vice President of Scouting and Player Development Grady Fuson.

Fuson was very candid - he answered all of my questions and was detailed in his responses. I talked to him in the clubhouse after Friday night's game.

San Diego Padres front office brass is in town this weekend to watch their Class Low-A affiliate, the Fort Wayne Wizards. Vice President of Scouting and Player Development Grady Fuson is one of those officials. He oversees the club’s scouting department, along with the minor league system, staff and instruction. He also assists Executive Vice President and General Manager Kevin Towers in all areas of baseball operations.

Fuson talked with The News-Sentinel on Friday evening after the Wizards’ 7-2 loss to the Kane County Cougars.

News-Sentinel: Let’s start with (highly-touted pitching prospect Mat) Latos. How’s he doing? How’s he feeling? What’s his status?
Fuson: He’s getting better. Those obliques are not an easy thing to fix. I don’t know that we rushed him back before (the first time he injured the obliques), but obviously he didn’t heal right. We’re taking it extra carefully. Medically he’s coming along. He’s throwing in a simulation game on Saturday.

N-S: Do you think he’ll be back here this year at all?
Fuson: It’s possible.

That's not all. It's quite lengthy to put in one post, so here's the link to the rest of it.

Had I known about Matt Bush's recent kerfuffle, I would've asked for Fuson's comment.

Of all the teams, Dayton and Peoria would be it

The News-Sentinel has afforded me the opportunity of the Fort Wayne Wizards beat. I get to see a lot of baseball throughout the summer. That includes every Midwest League team, player and manager at least for a three- or four-game series.

After seeing this brawl that transpired between the Dayton Dragons and Peoria Chiefs, I'm not too surprised.

I certainly wouldn't expect such a violent and out-of-control spectacle like what we saw on Thursday night in Dayton, nonetheless, fireworks are always possible given these teams' seperate track records.

In a June 12 game against the Wizards this season, Dayton's manager - Donnie Scott - and two players were ejected for arguing balls and strikes.

That was just one game. Dayton has been in Fort Wayne for two series and there's always this uneasy feeling with them. It's like walking through the front door two hours after curfew and trying to sneak past your dad, who fell asleep on the couch waiting up for you. Any misstep could awaken him and you'd certainly get chewed out and grounded. Dayton is that team that could just awaken and start plunking batters and sliding cleats-up into second base.

Peoria has yet to be in Fort Wayne this season, but begins a three-game series here tomorrow. Last year when the Chiefs were in town, first-year manager Ryne Sandberg got tossed by the home plate umpire minutes after his pitching coach did. Ryno bumped the ump. He was fined an undisclosed amount by the league. He told me after the game it was his first ejection as manager. The temperamental Sandbergwent on to get tossed a few more times that season.

Earlier this season he served a three game suspension for his role in a bench clearing incident.

It's often said that teams take on the personality of their manager, even though Sandberg wasn't known to have a negative attitude during his playing days.

I don't want to stereotype the Dragons or Chiefs as two brawling teams, but there's certainly support there that shows these teams as excitable and edgy.

HUGE minor league brawl

A fight in a minor league baseball game resulted in the ejection of 15 players and two managers, along with one player who faces a felony charge of assault.

The Class Low-A Midwest League Peoria Chiefs (Cubs) and Dayton Dragons (Reds) affiliates brawled in the first inning of Thursday night's game.

Here's the Dayton Daily News' recap of the fight.

The newspaper's video aired on the 11 p.m. SportsCenter. Broadcaster Neil Everett said pitcher Julio Castillo was arrested, however, the story does not read as so. (UPDATE: Daily News has a story up. Castillo is due in court today.)

Hall of Famer and former Cub secondbaseman Ryne Sandberg is the Chiefs' manager but was not present at the game.

Here's a photo gallery of the game/fight.

This is right up my alley because I cover the Fort Wayne Wizards, also a Midwest League team, for the News-Sentinel. Peoria and Fort Wayne begin a three-game series on Saturday.

Can we please get another look at that?

What else can you say about Manny Ramirez that hasn't been said? The guy is aloof. A flake. A goofball. Whatever.

I'm sure you've seen this clip of Manny in action a few nights ago but it's worth another look (and laugh).

It was a mustache kind of night

Josh Collmenter didn't let down his fanbase.

The mustachiosed right-hander pitched seven innings of scoreless baseball to lead his South Bend Silverhawks to a 3-0 victory on Wednesday night.

The game was proclaimed to be Josh Collmenter Mustache Awareness Night and fans were encouraged to wear fake mustaches to support the pitcher, who's grown the 'stache during the Silverhawks' impressive play over the past two-plus months.

If you like the prickly rectangle above Collmenter's lip, then vote him in the Best Mustaches in the Minor Leagues contest.

Hey, hey

Been away for a while. You know... same drill. Work schedule's been nuts with all of the vacations from the senior writers and editors. By the time I'm out of work, whether it's in-office or covering an event, I don't want anything to do with computers, so I stay far away. The only time the laptop is up and running when I'm away from work is when I've got the Tigers live gamecenter up at sportsline.com. Since, you know, we don't get Fox Sports Detroit here in the Fort Wayne market... Even though Detroit is CLOSER than Chicago or Cincinnati (yet we get their games!).

I'm working on some Website housekeeping. I'm deleting all old posts from when Construda first started. Those posts are from former posters who are no longer here. There's some foul language and content in those old posts and I'm trying to get them out of here. The problem is, I can't delete them all at once. I have to go one at a time. Stupid Blogger! Do you know how frustrating it is to click delete then "confirm delete" for over 500 posts?!

I've been picked up by Chad Gramling's 'Baseball in Fort Wayne' blog and am pretty happy about that. Thanks Chad! His blog is a great source of information about... well, baseball in Fort Wayne - past and present. I'll get his blog and the Midwest League blog in my blogroll ASAP.

And I promise to keep writing as soon as the old stuff is taken care of.

Back to the housekeeping!