San Diego cuts ties with pitcher Wells
David Wells is finished with his hometown San Diego Padres, and it’s possible that baseball has seen the last of the boisterous left-hander known as Boomer.
General manager Kevin Towers said Wednesday that the Padres will cut ties with the struggling 44-year-old today to activate All-Star Chris Young from the disabled list.
Towers and manager Bud Black met with Wells on Tuesday night after the Padres’ game in St. Louis, telling him that he wouldn’t make his scheduled start Saturday in Cincinnati.
“We kind of laid out some options for him,” Towers said. “If he still wanted to play, we’ll designate him for assignment and see if other clubs have interest, or if he wants to hang them up, he can retire. We’re waiting for him to get back to us.”
It was unknown whether Wells will retire or try to finish the season with another team.
Wells was 0-3 with a 14.33 ERA in his last four starts, and 5-8 with a 5.54 ERA overall this season.
Aaron outrates Bonds on TV
Hank Aaron is still the home run king when it comes to television ratings.
ESPN2’s broadcast of Barry Bonds’ record 756th homer received a 1.1 cable rating on ESPN2 Tuesday night, which translates to 995,000 households.
When Aaron hit his 715th home run on April 8, 1974, to break Babe Ruth’s record, NBC’s broadcast received a 22.3 rating on NBC, the equivalent of 14.9 million homes.
Selig meets with Mitchell
While Barry Bonds was breaking the home run record in San Francisco, baseball commissioner Bud Selig was in New York, preparing to meet with his chief steroids investigator.
Selig watched Bonds’ 756th homer on television, then met with George Mitchell before returning to Milwaukee. Bob DuPuy, baseball’s chief operating officer, also was part of the session.
Mitchell said in May that his probe was in its “final phases.”
Clearing the bases
Minnesota rookie infielder Brian Buscher has a rapidly growing infection in his leg and was flown back to Minneapolis where he may be hospitalized. The infection apparently stems from when Buscher fouled a ball off his right leg “five or six days ago,” manager Ron Gardenhire said. He said Buscher would be placed on the disabled list. … Outfielder Ryan Freel had season-ending knee surgery, prompting the Cincinnati Reds to claim outfielder Jason Ellison off waivers from Seattle. Freel has been bothered by a bone spur and cartilage damage in his right knee. … Colorado Rockies pitcher Jason Hirsh broke his right leg – and kept on pitching against the Brewers. X-rays revealed the fracture a day after Milwaukee’s J.J. Hardy lined a ball off Hirsh’s leg during the first inning of Colorado’s 11-4 win.