Other Baseball

I would love to see the Twins bring in Rajai Davis to play left field and back up Buxton in center. It would be nice to add some needed speed back into this lineup. Let Eddie Rosario & Robbie Grossman battle it out for the 4th outfielder spot.

I thought this commercial with David Ortiz was pretty funny. One of the main reasons I quit playing tennis is my kids were far more interested in playing the Ortiz way. By the time they could even hit two returns in a row my knees didn't let me keep up with them. (It's a family tradition - I did the same thing to my dad.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHg-xcsvq3Y

It's a little old, but I thought it seemed ok. Do we have any verification of accuracy? Thoughts on how good the descriptions/techniques/philosophies? http://www.sptimes.com/2005/05/17/Sports/Here_s_the_pitch.shtml

While this could be discussed in today's Winter Meetings thread, I think that the Chris Sale trade warrants its own thread. Chris Sale to the Red Sox in exchange for Yoan Moncada, Michael Kopech and two more prospects. 1.) Sale is out of the AL Central. 2.) The White Sox got a great haul! Moncada's the #1 prospect in baseball, and Kopech has a 100 mph fastball and is a starter. Dave Dombrowski is certainly aggressive. Will Sale stay healthy? Do the Red Sox use throwback uniforms?

Chris Colabello signed a minor league deal with the Indians Oswaldo Arcia signed with the Diamondbacks Good luck to them

Looks like Cleveland just made a nice addition in signing Edwin Encarnacion to a 3 year deal with an option. 3 years $65M. Kind of surpised there was no opt out after 1 season.

Does anybody have any rememberance on how Rafael Palmeiro won a Gold Glove in 1999 while playing only 28 games on defense and spending 128 games at DH? This seems absurd but I don't recall criticism of the award at the time.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/12/phillies-to-acquire-clay-buchholz.html Wow, they traded him for a 24 year old second baseman who hasn't played above A+. I know Bucholz has some attitude issues and he sucked last year but cripes, I think we could have easily topped that offer.

Again, I encourage people to discuss transactions and rumors and such in the daily Winter Meetings thread, but this one is so crazy, I'm giving it it's own thread. The White Sox just traded outfielder Adam Eaton to the Washington Nationals for Lucas Giolito (The top pitching prospect in baseball), Dane Dunning (Nationals #6 prospect) and Reynaldo Lopez (the Nats #3 prospect). Prospect rankings by MLB.com, but others would be similar. For Adam Eaton?! What am I missing?

Cionel Perez, a 20 year old Cuban who recently signed with the Houston Astros for $2 million, wrote a letter to MLB and MLBPA explaining his frustration with the new international system. “I am happy to begin my professional career but I feel abused by this system." Perez said the Orioles were willing to offer him a major league contract worth $10 million had he been exempt from the bonus pools. However, players subject to the international bonus pools are required to sign minor league contracts, so they are prohibited from signing major league deals. Much more at the link.

Tonight at 9 ET on MLB Network. Fellow Lafayetter and Cuban baseball expert Pete Bjarkman is on. I will soon be reviewing his new book for this site. He has seen it already and says it is fantastic. Some Tony O stuff.

I saw that the Philles just signed Pedro Florimon to a minor-league deal. This caught my attention since, of course, Terry Ryan joined the Philly front office a couple weeks ago. So I went and looked to see when the Twins first acquired him. It was December of 2011, less than a month after TR retook the reigns as Twins GM. Funny. (Of course, Florimon went on to put up a .567 OPS over the next three seasons.)

According to several reports, the White Sox have DFAd RHP Mat Latos who has struggled since starting out 5-0. In a separate tweet, they announced they have signed former Twins 1B Justin Morneau to a one-year contract. Remember that Morneau had offseason surgery.

http://joeposnanski.com/porcello-v-verlander/ A few days late but a nice little read. Pos points out that a lot (if not all) Verlander's WAR lead was because of how WAR calculated defense. And Pos doesn't think those numbers accurately reflect what happened.

We've been collectively worried that the Twins' advantage of having the #1 pick would be muted by changes to the draft process/pools. I haven't heard anything leaked from the new CBA agreement that relates to the Amateur Draft, so does that mean we are good? There's been a decent amount leaked, including a hard cap ($5M) on international signing, so you'd think if there were changes to the draft we would have heard about them also. Fingers still corssed? Or big Exhale?

This is a link to the AP piece published on the Strib web site. http://www.startribune.com/apnewsbreak-all-star-game-no-longer-determines-series-start/403941126/ IM not-so-HO they got it half right. Dumping the current format was right, but I think home field advantage should go to the league with the better record in interleague play.

Interesting article on the A's and revenue sharing. The A's, despite being in a big market, get revenue sharing because of their ballpark. They get a check for 34m but agents and other teams are a bit concerned that the A's might not being using that money as intended. "The current collective bargaining agreement, which ends Dec. 1, stipulates that revenue-sharing checks must go toward improving on-field performance and requires teams to detail the ways in which those monies were spent. In addition to big-league payroll, other expenditures that qualify include adding scouts or front-office staff, improving technology systems, and signing international players. “There …

Per Ken Rosenthal on Twitter, the deal is expected to be 4 years, $110 million. Turned out to be a good gamble from Cespedes to opt out of 3 years $75 MM left on his other contract to get another year, and additional cash on top of that.

Not sure if this is the right place or the other baseball section but Ben Badler of BA - who is probably the best writer on the international baseball market - had some pretty good thoughts on the international pool, the draft and how to better help small market teams. He opposes a draft and favors increasing all teams draft pool to an equal amount (12m) and possibly increasing penalties for going over that 12m. http://www.baseballamerica.com/international/increased-bonus-pools-make-sense-international-draft/#LiZM1U3FJO3pMoTT.97 "One of the major flaws of the current system is that the bonus pools are too small. In an effort to help owners keep more money by limiti…

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/11/braves-acquire-alex-jackson.html Strange trade. Seattle got a couple arms back for Jackson, the 6th overall pick right behind Nick Gordon. Jackson has really struggled in the low minors (.233/.327/.399 combined). He'll be 21 next season and likely remain in A ball. Seattle gets back low ceiling but fairly decent arms. I guess Atlanta is betting on Jackson but I'm surprised they gave up even that much for him.

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/209343802/verlander-and-buxton-lead-2016-statcast-team/ I'm not sure what the value of some of this is, but I found it interesting. And the Buxton bit confirms the impression of him I got when I saw him play in the AFL a couple years ago. Watching him go from first to third was startling. He was visibly faster than anyone I have ever seen on a baseball field.

Yankees traded Brian McCann and his 2yr/34m + potential 15m vesting option to the Astros for a couple young pitchers. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/11/astros-acquire-brian-mccann.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MlbTradeRumors+%28MLB+Trade+Rumors%29 Yankees are also giving the Astros about 6m to cover some of the contract. The arms they are getting back are both far away and pretty raw but have pretty good stuff. "While financial considerations surely played a role in the swap, the Yankees were no doubt intrigued by the two player they received. Abreu is the more highly regarded of the two; as J.J. Cooper of Baseball …

After the World Series I was thinking now that the two most famous "curses" are over we've also seen the evolution of the game recently include the statistical revolution, new ballparks for almost every team, use of social media, etc. But the game essentially remains the same - I enjoyed all of the stories from Cubs fans about how their team has been a constant throughout the generations. What do you think is going to be the next "big thing" in baseball? Doesn't have to be strictly in MLB, could be minor leagues or baseball in general. And yes I realize if we knew we would all be consultants making a lot of money. But it's interesting to think about.

Sling is including regional Fox Sports networks, including Fox Sports North, in their new "beta multi-stream" service for $20 per month -- probably the cheapest way to get in-market Twins broadcasts now: http://blog.sling.com/announcements/sling-tvs-beta-multi-stream-service-brings-fox-broadcast-hit-shows-and-local-sports-with-three-streams-1/ Sony's Vue service also allegedly has Fox Sports North, but only in their "Core Slim" package for $35 per month: https://www.playstation.com/en-us/network/vue/ I haven't tried either, but I thought I'd share.

In the life just keeps getting more absurd department, there's this: BBWA results: http://bbwaa.com/16-al-cy/ Followed by this: Kate Upton Twitter At least we have something to talk about. Like how does a pitcher with 14 first-place votes lose to a pitcher with only 8? Could the TIgers have found the resources to keep Verlander, Porcello and Scherzer together in Detroit? What pro athelete really has the most supportive wife and or girlfriend?

Time for Twins to rethink their Starting Rotation??? Is 40 the new 20 ? http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/11/braves-to-sign-bartolo-colon.html http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/11/braves-sign-r-a-dickey.html

How about that. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/11/diamondbacks-hire-ron-gardenhire.html

Well... the pilgrimage is ALMOST over! At the end of the month I'm headed to Toronto to catch the Twins on in Rogers Centre, checking off my last of the 30 MLB stadiums! I'm flying in and out of Rochester and plan on catching a few Red Wings games while I'm there as well. Just wanted to check in and see if anyone else will be making the trek to the land of the North? Would be awesome to connect with a few other Twins fans while I'm there!

I am here to give My predictions for the Awards let me know what you think. AL MVP Finalists: Mike Trout, Josh Donaldson, Mookie Betts My Pick: Mookie Betts AL Cy Young Finalists: Justin Verlander, Rick Porcello, Corey Kluber My Pick: Corey Kluber AL Rookie of Year: Michael Fulmer, Gary Sanchez, Nomar Mazara My Pick: Michael Fulmer AL Manager of year: Terry Francona, Buck Showalter, Jeff Banister My Pick: Terry Francona NL MVP: Kris Bryant, Corey Seager, Anthony Rizzo MY Pick: Kris Bryant NL Cy Young: Kyle Hendricks, Jon Lester, Max Scherzer My Pick: Kyle Hendricks NL Rookie of year: Corey Seager, Trea Turner, Trevor Story M…

Luke Hochevar would be a great target for the Twins to sign. He puts up a good year and you have a nice trade piece that could bring back a nice prospect. This should be something the Twins should be looking at to rebuild the system.