Yoenis Cespedes is on his rehab assignment and nearing a return this weekend. When he returns, something will be different about him. Beyond the fact that he might play left field — he’s played there at least once while in the minor leagues — the careful observer might notice something different about his swing. The Athletics have asked him to stop holding the knob of the bat. From Susan Slusser:

There is thought that holding the knob in the palm might have contributed to the strained hand muscle that put him on the DL this month.

Sluggers have used this grip since the days of Babe Ruth if you listen to the stories. Has the practice been contributing to injury all this time?

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Table of Contents
Here’s the table of contents for today’s edition of Daily Notes.

1. Featured Game: Baltimore at Toronto, 19:07 ET (Free Game)
2. Other Notable Games
3. Today’s Complete Schedule

Featured Game: Baltimore at Toronto, 19:07 ET
Regarding These Teams, Their Respective Places in the AL East
I’m not lying to you or your face when I say that these teams enter Wednesday just zero and three games, respectively, out of first place in the AL East.

The Surprising Thing About That, Duh
The surprising thing about that is how Toronto and Baltimore have, generally speaking, been a distant fourth and fifth place in their division for the past three or six years or whatever.

Duh
Duh.

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One of the best hitters of his generation will officially call it a career this weekend. Magglio Ordonez wasn’t your prototypical slugger — he hit 294 home runs in 15 big-league seasons — but he was a paragon of productivity. A six-time all-star, the former Tigers and White Sox outfielder will retire with a slash line of .309/.369/.502 — and more runs created than numerous hall-of-famers. The 38-year-old Venezuelan won the American League batting title in 2007, when he hit .363.

Ordonez talked about his long-and-prolific career during the 2011 season.

——

David Laurila: How would you assess your career?

Magglio Ordonez: I played this game and I respected this game. I’ve been on a championship team and I’ve been on losing teams. It has been a really nice ride, from the first day that I played in the big leagues to the last day.

DL: What are you most proud of having accomplished?

MO: Probably just being ready to play every day. I played the game hard and showed my teammates that I’m not better than them. I consider myself really humble, very low-profile. I don’t like to be in the spotlight. I come here, get dressed and prepare myself to play baseball. After the game, I go home. I don’t like to talk about my accomplishments. I let other people do that for me.

DL: How do Detroit and Chicago compare as places to play?

MO: Chicago obviously was the first team I played for — they gave me a chance to be in the big leagues — but the best memories I have of my career are with the Tigers. Read the rest of this entry »

Note: Ken Rosenthal now reporting that Oswalt’s deal is fully guaranteed for $5 million-$6 million, and will not be paid pro rata.

The Dallas Morning News is reporting that Roy Oswalt has signed with the Texas Rangers. According to Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports, it’s a one-year deal worth between $5 million-$6 million, depending on how much time Oswalt spends with the team. Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets that Oswalt told the Rangers he will ready to pitch in the majors in one month.

When he is ready, Oswalt likely will replace Scott Feldman in the Rangers’ starting rotation. The Rangers moved Feldman from the bullpen after Neftali Feliz went on the disabled list with elbow inflammation. Feldman will resume his role as the long reliever for Texas. If Oswalt is successful for Texas, Feliz may very well return to the bullpen when he comes off the disabled list.

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Roy Halladay began the year battling diminished velocity and has struggled to pitch at a Halladay-esque level on a consistent basis. On Sunday, he left his start after just two innings, and after being evaluated today, the Phillies placed him on the disabled list with a strained latissimus dorsi muscle.

On the one hand, at least it’s not an elbow or shoulder injury that sidelines him for the entire season. On the other hand, the Phillies just lost their ace for the next couple of months, and were already attempting to dig themselves out of a four game deficit in the NL East. Losing Halladay for two months is a significant blow, as he’s been a steady +6 to +8 win pitcher over the last six years. In reality, replacing Halladay with anything close to a replacement level arm will cost the Phillies about a win per month, and if the injury lingers and effects him even after his return, it could be as much as a +3 win swing off their expected win total.

This doesn’t doom the Phillies chances, and they shouldn’t overreact to this news by throwing in the towel on the 2012 season, but their playoff odds just took a very real hit today. This was already a flawed team that needed to make a couple of upgrades in order to put on a strong finish in the second half, and now they’re going to be without their best player until after the All-Star break. The eventual return of Chase Utley and Ryan Howard will help, but the Phillies are going to need more help than that now, especially with Vance Worley battling arm problems of his own. The Phillies are too good to punt the season, but they need another starting pitcher, and they need another starter sooner than later.

The teams that are likely to be sellers in the near future include Minnesota, Chicago, San Diego, Seattle, Kansas City, and Colorado. The Padres, Twins, Rockies, and Royals have their own pitching issues, and probably don’t have anyone who would appeal to the Phillies as a trade target. The Cubs could certainly dangle Ryan Dempster, but might prefer to wait for the trade deadline to market a guy who will probably be the best arm to switch teams this summer. That might leave the Mariners, who have a bevy of pitching prospects on the way and could part with a low-cost veteran like Kevin Millwood or ship Jason Vargas off if they wanted a more significant prospect in return. Given Halladay’s expected summer return, a guy like Millwood might make more sense, as he’d provide some rotation insurance without costing them any kind of top prospect to bring him aboard.

Whether it’s Millwood or some other type of emergency fill-in, I’d imagine the Phillies are already making phone calls to try and find another arm to help keep the rotation stabilized. It’s the strength of the Phillies team, and it just took a big blow.

Episode 188
FanGraphs managing editor Dave Cameron makes his weekly appearance.

Discussed:
• The achievement that is Bryce Harper’s first 100 plate appearances, and what it has to do with someone named Oyster and someone else named Buttercup.
• The Adam Jones‘ extension and also what’s the deal with Baltimore.
• Three teams that, not even two months into the season, are almost entirely removed from playoff contention.

Don’t hesitate to direct pod-related correspondence to @cistulli on Twitter.

You can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or other feeder things.

Audio after the jump. (Approximately 35 min. play time.)

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Mark Trumbo has put the Angels offense on his back this year. His walk-off home run in last night’s game against the Yankees pushed his total for the season to eight and his wRC+ of 172 sits sixth in the league, trailing just Paul Konerko, Josh Hamilton, Joey Votto, David Wright and Carlos Ruiz. Most notably, Trumbo brings an OBP of .388 into Tuesday’s action just one year after posting a .291 mark. The jokes were easy — Trumbo never saw a pitch he didn’t like, and indeed his 52.9% swing rate was among the tops in the majors.

This year, Trumbo has developed his eye, and his ability to recognize the strike zone is paying off not only with walks but with big-time power as well.

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If you hadn’t guessed from my first piece on Midwest League prospects, the league is simply loaded with talent. Taking that statement one step further, few would argue it was the best prospect league in all of minor league baseball at present. In this installment, seven more prospects ranging from the relative unknowns to household names (if there is such a thing when it comes to prospects).

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Three weeks ago, it looked like Chris Sale would no longer be starting games for the Chicago White Sox. Yesterday, he struck out over half the batters he faced in 7.1 innings.

It’s been an interesting year already for the sinewy blue chip. Sale, 23, had immediate success in moving to the starting rotation after spending the entirety of his two major league seasons overwhelming batters from the bullpen. His first five starts resulted in three wins, a 2.82 ERA and opposing hitters were hitting just .205/.262/.342.

Then due to some rather mysterious general elbow fatigue, Sale was moved back to the bullpen where he summarily blew a save on an unearned run. Days later, Sale managed to convince Robin Ventura (or whomever necessary) that he ought to be starting again, and he’s been filthy ever since. In his four starts after the bullpen flap, he’s posted a 1.82 ERA over 24.2 innings pitched, holding opponents to a .189/.247/.244 slash line.

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