Other Baseball

I just saw that the Royals gave Johan Pino a major league contract. That doesn't mean that he will definitely make the team, but after they signed Morales recently I have to wonder what they are seeing/doing. Are the baseball gods just reminding me that all teams, not just the Twins make moves that make you shake your head? Are the Royals secretly baseball geniuses who will turn those two into All-Stars? Maybe they have been trying to copy the Twins blueprint for years going from a joke(the mid 90's) to the point of being the lovable underdogs who had sucess doing the little things right despite the odds/payroll(the mid '00's), and they have now moved onto the le…

The Chicago Sun Times is reporting that one blockbuster deal wasn't enough for Billy Beane. "That said, sources confirmed the Sox are in discussions involving Samardzija, with one speculating they are past the “just talking” stage. “I believe serious talks are going on (with the White Sox),” an AL source told Sun Times reporter, Daryl Van Shouwen. http://chicagosuntimes.com/sports/white-sox-talking-with-as-about-jeff-samardzija/ A starting rotation featuring Sale, Shark, Quintana and Rodon (would this deal involve Rodon?) would be a major shot across the bow in the AL Central. Both the Sox VP and GM have recently made some pretty bold statements about making a mo…

This just in, Tigers obtained Cespedes straight up for Porcello. Very interesting move which makes me wonder if the Tigers are now going to take a run at a starter...... The White Sox captured the attention on the first day. Detroit is now wrapping up the week with a flurry of moves. What say you....?

As I've watch prospects rise throughout all of baseball - I see fewer and fewer African Americans on MLB teams. I have seen the increase in Latino players rise. And I have seen the majority of players still represented by the majority population. Most youth baseball programs in the USA are represented by the majority. Even the African Americans who played youth baseball, played on teams where they were the only minority or one of few. Latino players generally played on youth programs that were all Latino. In terms of race relations, I think the baseball world has come to grips with helping the Latino players feel more comfortable by hiring more Latino coaches and manage…

It was a short and sweet tweet from Ken Rosenthal... It makes the most sense. The Cubs have built a potentially great offense, but they needed pitching. Yesterday it was Jason Hammel. Today, it's Jon Lester. Believed to be 6 years, $155 Million.

Wondering about the high salaries that seem to rise astronomically? With 2014 soon coming to a close, Bud Selig and Major League Baseball can look back and say, “It was a very good year.” The league will see approx. $9 billion in gross revenues for the 2014 calendar year, a new record. ... That figure is up from $8 billion just last year, a staggering increase of 13 percent. http://www.forbes.com/sites/maurybrown/2014/12/10/major-league-baseball-sees-record-9-billion-in-revenues-for-2014/ We should all do so well. Of course, some teams did "much weller" than others due to local media revenues.

I find it a strange coincidence that Chuck Finley surrendered the exact same amount of home runs in his career as Steve Finley hit. (304) (Chuck FInley did not, however, surrender any home runs to Steve FInley in the 23 times they faced each other - although Steve did hit .409.)

Via Bob Nightengale on twitter. 4 years, $44M. Seems like a lot, no?

http://deadspin.com/mlb-umpire-dale-scott-comes-out-as-gay-1665692835 Scott isn't one of the umps whose name I remember so he's probably not horrible. He's the first openly gay ump in the majors (although there is at least one in the minors). But I bet the fans in Boston will treat him well the first time he makes a call they don't like ...

I just saw that the M's gave Kyle Seager 7 years $100 million! He basically posted Brian Dozier numbers at the same age with GG defense at 3B. Is it just me or is that WAY too much for an above average player? The M's seem determined to inflate the market, does this affect Dozier's contract demands?

To start out, I am not advocating for the Twins to trade for Matt Kemp, this thread is meant for conversation/debate/whatever. It has been mentioned on this site numerous times in the last month or so about the Twins trying to trade for Matt Kemp. What would it take? This trade scenario between the Twins and Dodgers could come in all shapes and forms. Do the Twins take on his contract and give up lesser prospects? Do the Twins take on a portion of his salary and give up decent pieces (major or minor league) to make Matt Kemp a Twin? I like Matt Kemp, He is a very good player. I liked his bounce back this year after 1.5 seasons lost due to injury, he can definitely be …

According to Bob Nightengale, the Chicago White Sox have signed 1B Adam LaRoche to a 2 year, $25 million contract. Does he DH, or does Jose Abreu DH??

Looks like the Pirates have claimed Pedro Florimon off of waivers from the Nationals. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014/11/pirates-claim-pedro-florimon.html I he strikes out a lot more batters this year, and I bet his offspeed stuff is going to look fantastic now that the Pirates got a hold of him.

ESPN linked to this piece by Posnanski on Bill James. Bill James doesn't have nice things to say about WAR. http://sportsworld.nbcsports.com/bill-james-statistical-revolution/ “Well, my math skills are limited and my data-processing skills are essentially nonexistent. The younger guys are way, way beyond me in those areas. I’m fine with that, and I don’t struggle against it, and I hope that I don’t deny them credit for what they can do that I can’t. But because that is true, I ASSUMED that these were complex, nuanced, sophisticated systems. I never really looked; I just assumed that the details were out of my depth. But sometime in the last year I was doing some re…

Russell Martin will play in his home country. The catcher signed a 5 year, $82 million contract to play for the Toronto Blue Jays. What do you think? Silly-ness!

It's being reported now that Billy Butler has signed a 3 year, $30 million deal with the Oakland A's. My first thought: Billy Beane LOVED Jeremy Brown!!

Braves traded Jordan Walden and Jason Heyward to the Cardinals for Shelby Miller and Tyrell Jenkins. Incredible deal. I'm not a fan of Miller, personally. I honestly would have rather seen Carlos Martinez than Miller, but very interesting pair of deals with the weekend deal of Tommy La Stella to the Cubs for Arodys Vizcaino and bonus slots. This is the type of deal Hart made in Cleveland with Justice/Grissom for Lofton/Embree. I hope this turns into the former side of that deal rather than the latter.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014/11/mets-sign-michael-cuddyer.html Rumor is it's 2/22. And they give Colorado the 15th pick in next years draft.

For 4 years at 17 per. Way to keep kicking that salary can down the road Dombrowski. Not good enough to win the series now, absolutely no farm system at all, and contracts too terrible to trade for pieces. Detroit's about two to three years away from being AWFUL.

http://mweb.cbssports.com/mlb/writer/jon-heyman/24807164/stanton-and-marlins-close-on-record-deal-word-is-325m-13-years?v=1&vc=2 Giancarlo Stanton and the Marlins are closing in on a landmark deal, believed to be for $325 million over 13 years, sources connected to the team told CBSSports.com. Stanton's record deal will have a no-trade clause and is expected to include an opt-out clause as well, allowing him to exercise a right to leave after a number of years. Only language remains to be finalized, sources said.

Various reports coming out of the Dominican Republic tonight are stating that Cardinals outfielder Oscar Taveras died tonight in a car crash. Initial reports came from his agent and there have been confirmations from his family. Taveras was a consensus Top 3 prospect in all of baseball coming into this season. The 22-year-old played in 80 games for St. Louis this year. Incredibly sad news for baseball and certainly for the Cardinals' family.

Barry Zito wants to try a Comeback: http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/11867010/barry-zito-36-looking-make-comeback-year-away Probably would need to take a minor league deal. Think the A's would be interested in a reunion? Who else might roll the dice on the 36 year old lefty?

Interesting trade. I think this was good value for Arizona, would you have done something similar if you were the Twins? I feel like the equivalent would have been Kepler and Zach Jones or something in that neighborhood.

I found this article by Jon Heyman interesting: http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/writer/jon-heyman/24799997/max-contract-scherzer-front-quiet-but-boras-cites-maxs-stats-guts Both for some of the little tidbits on Max's stats and the need for an Ace in the Series and for a look at Boras' tactics -- overwhelming with info,

It just ended and it got me thinking how much more realistic it would be if instead of a bang-bang play at both first base and home and an immediate celebration if the Yankees decided to challenge both calls and we could sit around for 2 minutes wondering what happened while Joe Buck dissected everything in a monotone voice.

http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/story/_/id/11827107/new-york-yankees-alex-rodriguez-bother-apologizing-ped-use Shocking, but it turns out ARod was using PEDs when he was arguing in the press that he wasn't. He told DEA agents he took human growth hormone (among others) and paid his cousin 900,000 to remain silent on his drug use. But flags fly forever. ARod killed the Twins in 3 post season series hitting .390 (16 for 41) with 3 doubles and 3 HRs and a .444 OBP.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=25002 Always fun to read these things, includes grades. Here is their conclusion: "Cuddyer is still a quality major league hitter and can help a team in the clubhouse. Unfortunately, he doesn't provide any value in the field or on the bases. With teams much more cognizant on defensive metrics and the value quality defense can provide, I have a tough time believing any team besides the Rockies in the NL would be willing to sign him. An AL team looking for a solid bat at DH for two years could do worse than Cuddyer, and his leadership ability will only increase his value to a team that decides he's worth the investm…

Baseball, America's national pastime, has always been a timeless sport. However, it is now experimenting with quickening the games by putting itself on the clock (or more than one clock, as the case seems to be). This has proved to be an extremely controversial subject among baseball fans, and I will briefly share my thoughts on it by covering a few of the basic rules that immediately come to mind: preventing batters from adjusting their batting gloves more than once per at-bat, adding a pitching clock, and limiting the amount of trips to the mound in a single game to three. First of all, I personally don’t have a problem with batters adjusting their batting gloves m…

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/11755817/mlb-postseason-shares-colorful-history Fun read on players dividing postseason shares. Includes some nice quotes by LaTroy Hawkins and how they gave a bunch of money to a minor league coaches widow. Also, Jim Caple has been one of ESPN's best writers for years. Glad he is still with them.

Looks like teams are handing out qualifying offers left and right for $15.3 M. Including to former Twins Liriano and Cuddyer. If this continues, I suspect that a lot of players will accept those offers and the market will go crazy.