According to the Boston Herald’s Jeff Horrigan, Major League Baseball and local law enforcement are increasing security at Tropicana Field after a letter was received threatening at least two Boston Red Sox players.

All of the details are in the story, but here is one snippet:

According to sources, the Sox recently received a mailed threat, believed to be postmarked in Memphis, Tenn., which targeted black and Latin players, citing at least two by name. The named players have been informed about the threats and will likely have security accompaniment away from Tropicana Field, including at the team’s hotel in St. Petersburg.

Authorities seem to have intelligence on the matter, but reportedly do not have the suspect in custody. Read more »

As the season wears on, the Texas Rangers have seemed to get younger and younger. They had four rookies in their starting lineup in Sunday’s 5-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies, including starting pitcher Eric Hurley who picked up his first win. Both Hurley and first baseman Chris Davis have made splashes in their big league debuts, and both have the talent to sustain the momentum.

Davis will be especially interesting to watch for the remainder of the year. One of the best power hitting prospects in the minors, he became the first Rangers player ever to homer in his first two games, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. At the time of his June 24 callup, Davis was hitting .333 with 23 homers in 77 games between stops at Double-A Frisco and Triple-A Oklahoma. Read more »

The starting rotation of the Minnesota Twins ranks 12th in the American League in strikeouts (463), sixth in ERA (4.3), and 11th in runs allowed (4.8). Journeyman softosser Livan Hernandez leads the team with eight wins. Needless to say, they aren’t the most flashy group in the league, but this patchwork rotation has spearheaded a 14-4 surge through interleague play that had the Twins just 1.5 games back of the White Sox in the AL Central entering Sunday.

Since giving up 8 earned runs in 3 innings June 8th against the division rival Chicago White Sox, righthander Kevin Slowey has been dominant in winning three of his last four starts. In 8 shutout innings Sunday against the Milwaukee Brewers, the NL’s 8th best offense, Slowey struck out eight, retired the first 10 Brewers he faced and allowed only one baserunner to reach third base. Just as impressively, he did it with a fastball-laden 109 pitches, nibbling at corners like his mound opponent Ben Sheets. Read more »

Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano has been one of the biggest disappointments in fantasy baseball this season. He has drawn comparisons to Hall of Famer Rod Carew after hitting .342 in 2006 and following that up with a fantasy-friendly .306-19-97-93 campaign last year.

The Yankees rewarded him in the offseason with a long-term contract that guarantees $30 million over four years with two options that could net Cano $57 million. Despite the club’s vote of confidence, it took Cano until mid-May to get his average above the interstate and he has spent the first half floundering below .250. His peripherals have been hurt as well, and his current 12-homer, 66 RBI pace is well below what fantasy owners were expecting. Read more »

The time is nearing to buy up shares of Oakland A’s outfielder Carlos Gonzalez. The season numbers are still a little light to help a fantasy team, but there are plenty of reasons to think he’s turning it around. Gonzalez is one of the game’s best hitting prospects, and he’s showing a veteran’s poise in clutch situations.

The prototype for an A’s offensive player, Gonzalez came to Oakland in the preseason trade for right-hander Dan Haren. While other acquisitions Dana Eveland and Greg Smith have been more solid contributors in 2008, Gonzalez was the crown jewel of the deal. He has the body of a young Carlos Beltran and is an excellent five-tool athlete. Read more »

If hitting is contagious, apparently so are slumps. It’s true, the Philadelphia Phillies still rank second in baseball in runs scored (5.1) and have hit the second-most home runs (105), but after Rich Harden and the Oakland A’s handed the Phils their seventh loss in eight games Thursday, it’s clear something is wrong with one of the league’s most potent lineups.

Since scoring 20 runs against the St. Louis Cardinals June 13, the Phillies have mustered a grand total of 24 runs over 10 games, less than half of their average run production, and their team average has dropped to 18th in the league. Ryan Howard, whose 19 home runs and 65 RBIs rank 6th and 2nd, respectively, in the NL, has batted .256 in that stretch and is one of the few Phillies to raise his batting average in the recent skid, albeit from .212 to .216. Read more »

Insubordination doesn’t quite capture what Shawn Chacon did to Houston Astros general manager Ed Wade on Wednesday. That was the organization’s documented reason for suspending the 30-year old pitcher, I guess because the employee manual doesn’t have policies that address choke slams and physical assaults.

No, Chacon broke the mold with his reaction to Wade’s stern request to talk in manager Cecil Cooper’s office. Well, almost broke the mold. Not since Latrell Sprewell choked then-coach P.J. Carlesimo have we seen such a move, and Chacon, to his credit, added his own twist with the grab-and-throw.

Read more »

Insubordination doesn’t quite capture what Shawn Chacon did to Houston Astros general manager Ed Wade on Wednesday. That was the organization’s documented reason for suspending the 30-year old pitcher, I guess because the employee manual doesn’t have policies that address choke slams and physical assaults.

No, Chacon broke the mold with his reaction to Wade’s stern request to talk in manager Cecil Cooper’s office. Well, almost broke the mold. Not since Latrell Sprewell choked then-coach P.J. Carlesimo have we seen such a move, and Chacon, to his credit, added his own twist with the grab-and-throw.

Read more »

Little has changed among the elite closers in the game, but injuries have thrown us for a loop when it comes to situations in Atlanta, St. Louis, Seattle and Milwaukee. Closers and fill-ins are in jeopardy of losing their jobs soon, which creates both problems and opportunities for fantasy owners.

Mike Gonzalez is the unofficial closer in Atlanta, but we’ve gotten mixed reviews in his two outings off the disabled list. He got a surprise save in his first appearance, then got touched up in a non-save situation in his second. Until we see what he can do when given consistent opportunities, he will hold down our No. 30 ranking. Read more »

As teams battle for positioning and bragging rights during the second and last round of interleague play, key players and fantasy producers Clint Barmes, Jeff Keppinger and Josh Willingham have returned to their teams and thus have joined our list of players available in at least 50 percent of fantasy leagues.

Marcus Thames is propelling the Tigers up the AL Central leader board, while Fred Lewis of the Giants and Casey Blake of the Indians are producing for floundering teams.  Read more »