Other Baseball

To those TD posters wanting to trade with Milwaukee..... https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/12/brewers-reportedly-planning-to-hold-onto-adames-burnes-woodruff-into-2023-season.html View full rumor

Maybe they aren't signing Judge after all.... https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/12/giants-mitch-haniger-agree-to-three-year-deal.html

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/12/cubs-to-sign-cody-bellinger.html

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/12/rangers-nearing-deal-with-andrew-heaney.html View full rumor

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/12/aaron-judge-appears-headed-to-giants.html

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/12/guardians-sign-josh-bell.html View full rumor

Is going to the White Sox. He isn't a top end starter any more, but he's a good back of the rotation guy. A decent move by the pale hose.

Nice consolation prize after losing DeGrom.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/12/athletics-moving-closer-to-sean-murphy-trade-braves-considered-the-frontrunners.html View full rumor

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/12/rangers-sign-jacob-degrom-to-five-year-contract.html View full rumor

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/12/brewers-trade-kolten-wong-mariners-jesse-winker-abraham-toro.html View full rumor

Owner John Sherman proposes to build a $2B stadium, entertainment district in or near downtown Kansas City. https://www.kshb.com/sports/royals-to-leave-kauffman-stadium-seek-2b-plan-for-stadium-entertainment-district-in-missouri

This week's episode of Freakonomics Radio talks about Moneyball and the analytics revolution. https://freakonomics.com/podcast/did-michael-lewis-just-get-lucky-with-moneyball/

Per MLB Trade Rumors the Angels have acquired outfielder Hunter Renfroe for pitchers Janson Junk, Elvis Peguero and Adam Seminaris. Lots of new bodies heading to the Halos early in the off season.

The best minor leaguers never to enjoy MLB success (msn.com) Here is a site for those who are so enamored with dumping veterans for the latest greatest rookies.

Many towns have vied for the location of the famous Casey at Bat, but two have really gotten serious in this quest. The epic poem was written by Ernest Lawrence Thayer who published it in the San Francisco Examiner in 1888. The location in the poem is called Mudville, a name that had been attached to Stockton California during the Gold Rush. The outlook wasn't brilliant for the Mudville nine that day: The score stood four to two, with but one inning more to play, But this could not end this quickly or this cleanly, for Holliston, Massachusetts has a neighborhood called Mudville and they say that the poem took place there. Thayer was from Massachus…

As you know I love the history of the sport and have posted about Wild Bill Hickok and Tom Custer playing baseball. Today I came on an article about sport in the west that I thought was really fun - True West Magazine. " Baseball spread throughout the Old West around the late 1840s, and it was played regularly in many areas on a sandlot basis for the next 20 years. Then, in 1869, the Cincinnati Red Stockings—America’s first professional team—departed westward from St. Louis on a rail tour. In San Francisco, the Red Stockings played the local amateur team, the Eagles. The crowd, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, was gracious in defeat: “It is eas…

This thread is for discussion about the 2022 MLB Postseason. This year’s playoff teams are as follows. American League 1. Houston Astros (106-56) 2. New York Yankees (99-63) 3. Cleveland Guardians (92-70) 4. Toronto Blue Jays (92-70) 5. Seattle Mariners (90-72) 6. Tampa Bay Rays (86-76) National League 1. Los Angeles Dodgers (111-51) 2. Atlanta Braves (101-61) 3. St. Louis Cardinals (93-69) 4. New York Mets (101-61) 5. San Diego Padres (89-73) 6. Philadelphia Phillies (87-75)

I know he is not a FA yet, but set to be one after his next season, so many teams are looking to maybe trade for and extend him. He will be entering his 29 age season when his new contract is coming. Now, in a normal player, you can look at a lot of comps as to what his contract could look like. However, he is not a normal player, and not since Babe Ruth have we seen a pitcher be a hitter as well. Ruth stopped doing both when he was sold to the Yankees after 1919, except for a few games here or there or later in his career. Of course we cannot compare those contracts. Now, if we looked just at pitching, I think Gerrit Cole could be a decent comparison, Cole had …

This is the first year under the new structure. Like it or hate it, it is hear to stay. I have seen comments about how it is terrible because it is taking away from the regular season, which the more you expand playoffs that will always be the case. Back before the wild card era, we had 2 teams from each league make it, and sometimes the divisions were heavy to one side or the other. This still would happen with wild card, but then that good second team would have a chance. Then we added a second wild card, because the Twins had to good 163 games in short order, so why not have a mandatory one right? Now we have 3 wild card teams, all for more money for teams b…

Random tidbit from another opening weekend series: In each of their first two games, the Padres' starter has given up no hits (Darvish yesterday, Manaea today.) This early in the season, and with the abbreviated spring training affecting pitchers' stamina, neither starter was left in the game to complete a no-hitter. The same reliever was first up both nights and lost the no-no two nights in a row.

I would love for Joe Maddon to be manager of our Minnesota Twins. But the more I read about Joe Maddon and his recent firing, I feel the state of the Minnesota Twins and Front Office Control is right in line with the Angels, many other teams, and the Puppet Managers that either sign on, or have no job. Is Baldelli in control of anything, really? Pregame “choreography” and pitching woes may not change as long as the numbers people keep sapping the soul out of Major League Baseball. But I doubt they will take the blame. https://www.si.com/mlb/2022/10/06/joe-maddon-tom-verducci-book-excerpt Just a taste for you......... "Moreover, what Maddon calls a pregame “…

Pujols’s OPS in 2022 was the worst performance of his career as a member of the Cardinals. It is still vastly better than the best OPS he put up as a member of the Angels. In terms of OPS, his worst year as a Cardinal was better than his best year as an Angel, even with a 10 year gap between Cardinals seasons. He got paid $106 million as a Cardinal compared to $240 million as an Angel.

Big deal Little deal No deal my vote….no deal I looked to put this in n a different thread, but then no one would ever see it so….

First, what is parity, and what would it look like? Parity is the general competitive overturn of teams throughout the sport without long term dynasties and long term droughts. Baseball has normally been a sport without much parity for various reasons. I will not get into those reasons, but there has long term been a few teams near the top, and a several teams near the bottom, and normally takes several seasons to make the swap, unless it is a big market team. For me it would look like similar to NFL where little prediction carries all the way through the season. Now, it will be hard to get that, just based on the sport, the season length and all that. However,…

Yes, the Twins are 11 games behind - so move on. What a season - Pujols chase for 700 HRs came to an end yesterday and it is an amazing story with lots of smiles and happiness. Can he lead the Cardinals to the WS? That would be fun. Aaron Judge is after a Triple Crown as well as 62 HRs. Amazing! It reminds me of the great triple crown of Mickey Mantle. Judge fields, throws, hits for average, hits for power and drives in runs. This is a complete player. No I am not rooting for Arraez to beat him, although his ability to stop no hit games makes him a possible late surge candidate and Boston is such a hitter friendly park that Bogaerts could succeed too. Great t…

Pictured is one of the several streaming options for the new Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime. This is something MLB could easily emulate with all of the advanced stats available. Team up with Baseball Reference or Fangraphs, and give the audience all of the statistics at our fingertips.

https://www.mlb.com/news/maury-wills-dies Maury Wills was one of my favorite MLB player growing up. Besides breaking Ty Cob's record with 104 steals/ season, he had a great series against our Twins which helped beat us. Unfortunately he never made it to the HOF while living. In this baseball era, base stealing is a dead art. Hopefully Maury Wills death can resurrect it & he could make it in the HOF. Rest In Peace Maury! Thanks for the good & bad memories!

Ken Rosenthal from the Athletic reported today about MLB voting in new rule changes for 2023. The changes have been widely reported for a while, but it sounds like they'll officially come into MLB after the vote. The changes include implementing a pitch clock, severely limiting the ability to shift infielders, and expanding the size of the bases from 15 inches to 18 inches. There's also a proposed limit on the number of times a pitcher can "disengage" with the mound, which could increase stolen bases. Not sure how I feel about a pitch clock, but it's in use in the minors. I LOVE the shift limitations. Hopefully, they implement that the 3B and SS have to stay on the LF si…