Cutnpaste: - Bill Lee, John Church, Worst Franchise in Baseball, K-Rod’s Contract... and Jon Niese

Bill Lee:



http://www.baseballjournal.com/news/2010/08/17_lee,63.php?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=facebook - The Brockton Rox of the Can-Am League announced on Monday that former Boston Red Sox and Montreal Expos left-handed pitcher, 63-year old Bill Lee, will join the club as the team’s starting pitcher on Sunday, Sept. 5 at 1:05 p.m. against the Worcester Tornadoes. Lee pitched for the Red Sox from 1969 through 1978, and owns the franchise record for games pitched by a lefthander with 321. The native of Burbank, Calif., won 17 games each season from 1973 to 1975, was selected to the 1973 American League All-Star team, and was a member of the 1975 American League champions. He was traded to the Expos in 1979, where he won 16 games in the first of his four seasons there.



John Church:


http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100816&content_id=13534492&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp - Mets prospect John Church allowed one hit over seven innings, throwing his first career complete-game shutout in Class A Savannah's 1-0 win over Kannapolis in the first game of Monday's doubleheader. The 23-year-old right-hander struck out five and walked one for his seventh win. His only blemish came with two outs in the first inning, when Brady Shoemaker lined a single to right. He set down 11 consecutive batters between the first and fifth innings before working around a one-out walk to finish the fifth. The righty induced three straight grounders in the seventh to seal the win and improve to 7-1.



Worst Franchise in Baseball:


http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/jeff_pearlman/08/16/pearlman.mets/#ixzz0woxhKOxJ - Blessed with the majors' fifth-highest payroll (a staggering $132,701,445) and a roster featuring seven players with All-Star resumes, the Mets have defied the odds by putting to sleep the nation's largest city. Oh, at 58-59 the Mets are neither especially bad nor especially good. They won't contend for the playoffs and they won't fall below Washington into last place in the NL East. They won't dazzle, they won't irk. They merely exist. Yawn. To call the Mets dreadful is an insult to dread. The 1962 Mets were dreadful, but in an endearing sort of way. The 2003 Tigers were dreadful, but nobody expected much of a club starting Warren Morris at second base. No, the 2010 Mets are simply worthless. They are a listless, heartless, wretched baseball team; an entertainment value sans entertainment, playing ugly within the confines of beautiful new Citi Field. When the biggest story of the year is Francisco Rodriguez, your star closer, beating up the grandfather of his kids, well, you've for problems.


K-Rod’s Contract:


http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/baseball/mlb/08/16/mets.rodriguez/#ixzz0wox5NTV3 - The Mets are looking into the possibility of voiding closer Francisco Rodriguez's contract, SI.com has learned. If the team is successful in doing so, they could save at least $17 million, and potentially more.They are looking into whether the contract, for $37 million over three years, can be voided based on Rodriguez injuring himself outside the course of play. Rodriguez suffered torn thumb ligaments during a fight with his girlfriend's father. Rodriguez has been charged with assault in the case.


Jon Niese:


http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/index.php/interesting-week-20-two-start-pitchers-2 - Jonathon Niese – In his last nine games, Niese has thrown a Quality Start in seven of them. The only two times he did not were against the Diamondbacks. This year he has an 8.68 ERA against Arizona and a 3.09 ERA versus the rest of the league. Niese has two road starts this week, but is road ERA (3.57) is nearly identical to his mark in pitcher-friendly Citi Field. The Mets are no longer talking about skipping Niese in the rotation and neither should you.