Other Baseball

Move all the MLB baseball fields 5 feet closer to the outfield fences. This will allow a return to steroid-era homerun levels while also ensuring a large number of foul balls are now converted into outs. If teams did this one foot each year for 5 years, they could do it on the sly without their fans ever being the wiser. ("Boy, that Doug Bernier has really developed some power!") Note: The Oakland A's would just move their fences in, since they already have the desired amount of foul territory.

http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/just-a-bit-outside/story/rules-changes-pitch-clocks-reliever-limits-dh-021015 This reinforces my belief that the pitch clock (or at least an internal umpire clock that spurs along the game) would make the biggest difference in the game. Start with the obvious, time-saving stuff that impacts the strategy of the game the least, then work backward from there. There's no need to limit relievers or any of that stuff... Yet.

Hi, I was wonder what the salaries are for players under team control? For example, how much do rookies make? How much do 2nd year players and 3rd year players? Then does arbitration start at year 4? Thanks!

I missed this but about two weeks ago they made a few changes to the draft - 1) It'll move the draft from the middle of June to July 1st. 2) The signing deadline - July 15 - stays the same. So not as much time to negotiate with draft picks. http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/01/21/mlb-is-moving-the-amateur-draft-from-june-to-july/

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/walking-through-ben-reveres-19-assists/ Fun article at fangraphs on Revere's 19 career assists. But the most important part is the ending: "If you’re looking for visually-impressive assists, Ben Revere isn’t your man. That’s what you’d expect out of an arm rating of 1. But, he’ll always have the Ryan Roberts play. That was a throw any outfielder could be proud of. And it was probably a better throw than you could make. Don’t lose sight of the fact that you completely suck at baseball. You’re just lucky you never get .giffed."

http://www.gammonsdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Aaron-Milwaukee.jpg Henry Aaron turns 81 today. Despite being one of the greatest players in baseball history and the owner of one of the greatest accomplishments in baseball history, he is still not discussed with the same frequency or regarded in the same celebratory terms as many of his peers in the game. While Babe Ruth is viewed in mythological terms, (“Ruthian”) Aaron never received the same adulation or acclaim. Unlike Ruth he never had a 60 homerun season – or even a 50 homerun season. Instead, Aaron amassed a twenty-year string of inconceivably consistent seasons – averaging a .300 batting average, 40 ho…

Former Twins pitcher Andrew Albers, who was easily the best story of the Twins 2013 season, signed a minor league deal with the Toronto Blue Jays. In the below video link, it discusses him coming back from Korea and getting an opportunity to play for the Blue Jays. He is one of the best people I have talked to. I enjoy his deep thought and he really appreciates the opportunities that he has been given. Definitely one to root for. Try this link.

There have been a number of proposals for speeding up the game. While I favor enforcing the current rules, I'm not really in favor of a time clock. But now there is this idea: The answer seemingly is yes, but eureka! Here’s an idea that could both increase offense and improve the pace: Require relievers to face more than one batter per appearance. Make it at least two, or even better three. http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/just-a-bit-outside/story/rosenthal-speed-up-mlb-game-make-relievers-face-more-than-1-batter-faster-game-more-runs-012815 Yes, it would change the strategy of the game but it would introduce a whole new level of strategy. When I think about what…

The designated hitter rule should be in both leagues, with some major changes: Each team, on a pregame line-up card, DESIGNATES one player to be its Designated Hitter. That hitter may substitute for another player like any other bench player (for example, in case of injury) OR take his one DH at-bat in the ninth spot in the batting order, in the first six innings. After six innings, presuming there have been at least 8 at-bats since that first DH at-bat, the DH may be used like any other player off the bench. In most games the DH will have one or two at-bats and not play in the field. This new DH rule would add strategy to the game (Did the manager use his DH at-bat…

Former Minnesota Twin OF/1B Chris Parmelee has signed a minor league deal with the Orioles. I had a feeling this was going to happen. There were a couple threads where there was speculation that Parmelee would sign with the Blue Jays and the Orioles, and it's happened. I'm betting on Parmelee winning a spot on the bench and hitting well as a pinch hitter. The Orioles know how to get former Twins to work better than the Twins do.... Source: http://www.1500espn.com/sportswire/ExTwin_Chris_Parmelee_latches_on_with_Orioles_on_minor_league_deal012615

I know we've talked about this a bit before, but figured we might bring these to a larger audience. I know there are some OOTP fans here - any leagues you recommend or things you've found enjoyable? I'm a Baseball Mogul guy (More out of tradition than anything else) and currently am active in a league that is coming on it's fifth year in existence. Might be a place to drum up some support or interest I thought as well. The league I'm in is at firstclassmogul.com

No, this isn't a Chris Farley, Saturday Night Live skit, but it is kind of neat. Blue Jays pitching prospect Daniel Norris is from Tennessee, but each year he drives down to Dunedin (Blue Jays spring training site) and works out there. Instead of staying a hotel, he lives in his van down by the ocean. He's a big outdoorsman. The organization doesn't like it and don't understand it. Norris is a 21-year-old lefty. He is a top 25 guy in baseball.

I just saw that the Cleveland Indians have signed Swarzak with a minor league deal. I wonder what his chances of making the roster are. If not, he'll be a solid AAA pitcher. Maybe they'll try him as a starter. Source: https://twitter.com/MLBastian/status/555786960485507074

Dexter Fowler to Chicago for Luis Valbuena and Dan Straily. I really liked this trade for the Astros. Fowler was a pretty overrated player and both Valbuena and Straily (while not great players themselves) really help out Houston right away. Valbuena had a bit of a break out season last year, although at 29, that may have been his career year. Straily was one of those A's pitchers who looked ok in Oakland but struggled outside of it. But that's a solid return for Fowler, who is a FA at the end of the year and just a butcher in the OF.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2015/01/astros-two-other-teams-in-aggressive-pursuit-of-evan-gattis.html#disqus_thread Well, I guess the Astros aren't worried about strike outs. Wow. Gattis has some real power and should hit 25-30 HR for Houston while playing LF/DH and 1B. He'll probably strike out 120 times. They gave up a couple intriguing prospects - Rio Ruiz, who could be a big sleeper guy and a top 100 prospect next year; Mike Foltywizzcdhdfhd (sp), who has a cannon but struggled. He might end up in the bullpen. And they also threw in Andrew Thurman, a college pitcher drafted in the second round a year ago who might be a #4/5 starter.

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/54559/the-current-all-underrated-team Dozier is your starting second baseman. Can't really argue with the list, maybe a quibble here or there - I think Dallas Keuchel and Rene Rivera weren't great choices. Keuchel b/c I think he's going to be a journeyman with one career season and Rivera hasn't done much although it's hard to pick catchers at this point.

Kind of cool - a writer for mlb.com put together the longest streak for current players at each position to never make an all star team. http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/106185734/who-joins-john-mcdonald-as-the-longest-tenured-non-all-star-players Couple former Twins on the list and some pretty darn good players. Surprised AJ Burnett never made an all star team. Thought he had.

http://www.si.com/mlb/2015/01/08/tom-verducci-national-sportswriter-year National sportswriter of the year. Good for him. I've always enjoyed his writing and he clearly actually loves baseball.

Just now, the Baseball Hall of Fame President Jeff Idelson announced that the following players were elected into the Hall of Fame: Pedro Martinez Randy Johnson Craig Biggio John Smoltz

Here are this year's candidates: http://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/hof_2015.shtml And a refresher on the Hall voting procedure: http://www.baseball-reference.com/about/hof_voting.shtml Go!

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/your-opinions-of-the-team-projections-american-league/ This is a fun read.......it is the AL version of "steamer says this, what do you all think" polling that Fangraphs did. The Twins are projected for 76 wins, and the masses think that is waaaaaay over their total next year.

Why not? GM Hawkins? Righty has post-career plans | rockies.com After watching the interview, I'd say Hawkins seems like a guy willing to problem solve and carry some responsibility, and open to numbers-driven decision making. He seems to still have connections within the Twins organization. It also wouldn't hurt to have some competition or a succession plan for when Ryan wants to step down. What do you think? I'm all in. I'd send smoke signals starting now, and then after 2015 I'd offer him a job.

If you have an itch to work in the baseball industry, here is an opportunity for you: Inside Edge scouting services based out of Bloomington, Minnesota is hiring an Operations Intern. More details on the position and a link to a neat test to find out if you have the scouting acumen to handle the job can be found by clicking here.

Delmon Young agreed to a contract for $2.25 million with incentives to 3 million. Think Delmon has a charmed life? He has collected post season checks the last 6 years. Baseball people can be superstitious , is Delmon being paid to be a good luck charm?

While we stare out the window all winter and wait for Spring Training, here's a poem from Ogden Nash highlighting some of baseball's greatest players from the early part of the 20th Century: http://www.baseball-almanac.com/poetry/po_line.shtml Published: Sport Magazine (01-1949) A is for Alex The great Alexander; More Goose eggs he pitched Than a popular gander. B is for Bresnahan Back of the plate; The Cubs were his love, and McGraw his hate. C is for Cobb, Who grew spikes and not corn, And made all the basemen Wish they weren't born. D is for Dean, The grammatical Diz, When they asked, Who's the tops? Said correctly, I is. E is for Evers, His jaw in adva…

The Giants have their third baseman, I guess. They acquired Casey McGehee from the Marlins. Many of us had speculated that the Giants would be interested in trading for Trevor Plouffe to take the Panda's spot for the Gigantes. McGehee appears to be comparable, but less valuable than Plouffe in just about every category. He is 32, four years older than Plouffe. His defense grades as below average, Plouffe has progressed to positive territory. His career OPS+ is 96, coming off a 99 in 2014. Plouffe is coming off a 110 OPS+ season and is a lifetime 99. Finally, Plouffe will be under team control for three more years while McGehee is a free agent after the 2015 season…

Jon Heyman ‏@JonHeymanCBS · 16m16 minutes ago astros & draftee nix, whose $1.5M deal was canceled thru no fault of his own, reach settlement. http://cbsprt.co/1qTf8Qn The financial settlement between the Astros and Nix -- the amount of which isn't known -- was agreed to after the players union, on behalf of Nix and agent Casey Close, filed a grievance citing the unfairness of Nix losing his deal over something that allegedly came up in Aiken's physical. The monetary payout helps the Astros avoid having to forfeit the picks, which was a possibility had an arbitrator ruled against them and ordered them to sign Nix. It isn't known whether Nix preferred to pitch for…

Since the idea of trading for Michael Saunders was floated elsewhere on this site, I thought I'd mention that he's off the table now. The Jays get him from Seattle for starter J. A. Happ. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014/12/mariners-blue-jays-swap-michael-saunders-j-a-happ.html Despite their attempts to upgrade for 2015, Toronto is now officially Happ-less.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/padres-acquire-wil-myers-in-complex-three-team-deal-233547912.html Even though Friedman is no longer around, I bet TB does not get crucified for trading the untouchable Myers like KC did.

The Associated Press ‏@AP · 15m15 minutes ago AP sources: US, Cuba seek to normalize diplomatic relations as part of prisoner release deal: http://apne.ws/1vZ5Fmf Jon Morosi ‏@jonmorosi · 6m6 minutes ago With today's Cuba news, now possible to imagine 30 MLB teams with academies on island, similar to D.R. Profound impact on baseball industry. Exciting possibilities for baseball. (Although some owners may find the business opportunities more enticing). Some day an mlb franchise in Havana?