During the Baltimore Orioles' 12-7 win against the Boston Red Sox June 2, the Birds got an excellent five-inning outing from righty Ubaldo Jimenez, a five-run sixth inning, and, yes, I'll say it, a bit of laissez faire managing from Buck Showalter. But still, when it was finished, all anyone wanted to talk about was what the club should do with Jimenez -- after he surrendered five earned runs to start the sixth inning.
Let's look at what other teams have done.
On June 5, the Los Angeles Dodgers designated onetime star outfielder Carl Crawford for assignment. Forget for a moment if anyone will take a shot on Crawford. The move literally means the Dodgers are eating a total of $35 million for a contract that doesn't expire until after the 2017 season.
On June 3, the Chicago White Sox were able to acquire a former big name, but still highly compensated pitcher in right-hander James Shields from the San Diego Padres. The Padres were so eager to get out from under anything they could save of the remaining $58 million that they took a package of failed White Sox prospect Erik Johnson and 17-year-old prospect Fernando Tatis Jr. The Sox will still pay $27-31 million on Shields' contract. (The White Sox are expected to pay between $27 million and $31 million of the remaining $58 million on Shields' salary, a source told ESPN's Jim Bowden. If the right-hander opts out of his contract after this season, the number would be less).
