Other Baseball

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014/07/bronson-arroyo-to-undergo-tommy-john-surgery.html Puts another twist on the last off-season.

Jon Heyman twittering that Aiken and the Astros will come to some deal around 5m (originally had agreed on 6.5). http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/writer/jon-heyman/24610130/elbow-ligament-issue-for-no-1-pick-aiken-delays-signing-by-astros On the plus side, it saves the Astros nearly 3m on the draft pool. On the negative side, HS pitcher with elbow problems already. Ouch.

This is a somewhat interesting video. I wonder how often this happens.

The Cubs picked up shortstop prospect Addison Russell, adding to their bank of highly touted shortstops (Javier Baez and Starlin Castro). There is already talk (of course, there is always talk) that the Cubs could/would/need to move somebody. At age 24, Castro is in his 5th year of MLB and is signed through 2019 with a team option in 2020: 2014 -- $5MM 2015 -- $6MM 2016 -- $7MM 2017 -- $9MM 2018 -- $10MM 2019 -- $11MM 2020 -- $16MM (Team option, $1MM buyout) His slash line is .283/.324/.412 (.736). What would you be willing to give up for Starlin Castro? Or do you like Escobar and Santana and Polanco enough to not bother even thinking about it?

This is a great article, imo. http://www.fangraphs.com/community/the-unique-path-to-success-in-oakland/ It talks about where the best teams recently (and WS champions for some time now) have built their rosters. The A's are taking a path few teams have taken, and almost none have won the WS with. There are a lot of numbers, and words, but the last few paragraphs sum up the thoughts. Basically, the A's are not reliant on the draft at all (built through picking up DFA, trades, some FA, and other routes than the draft) for their current roster. Up until the last three years, WS champions have largely been built by FA. The A's are not, and that makes their recent succes…

I thought this was very interesting from a variety of angles.

The White Sox are releasing Scott Downs. He always got our guys out, but apparently the rest of the league is catching up with him. The Yankees DFAed a middle infielder named Dean Anna and optioned former Twins farmhand Yangervis Solarte to AAA. I wouldn't exactly call Solarte a failure, but the Yanks are going with Zealous Wheeler in his place. After a strong start, Solarte hit under .200 in June, with a .495 OPS. He is far better as a left handed hitter.

That is all... http://mlb.mlb.com/images/6/1/8/82620618/ortiz_early_walk_3z6ncbp1.gif

As part of comedian/actor Rob Riggle's charity fundraiser poker tournament called the Big Slick to support his hometown of Kansas City's Children's Mercy Hospital, Riggle recruits several of his celebrity friends -- notably Paul Rudd, Jason Sudekis and Johnny Knoxville -- who participate in batting practice thrown by the Royals' Jeremy Guthrie. Hilarity ensues. [video=youtube;c7K6KBejwz8]

"Saints Rocked by Boulders" http://saintstrain.sportsblog.com/post/725508/saints_rocked_by_boulders.html

Scoreless in the second. I see the Twins are up!

Fox Sports had a nice article about our old pal. It talks about how his success is tied to his willingness, perhaps eagerness to now go the other way. I found it linked to Fangraphs but here's the original link: http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/justin-morneau-hits-all-fields-power-more-swings-less-strikeouts-coors-field-target-field-062314 The last paragraph is a bit gut-wrenching though: But now, his home park has helped him be a more complete hitter. He admitted that "there's no reason I couldn't have done this in Target Field," but is happy to make the change. As he said, "It's all part of the learning curve."

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/mlb/astros-prospect-carlos-correa-appears-to-injure-leg?ymd=20140622&content_id=81023680&vkey=news_mlb Correa was, of course, picked ahead of Buxton by the Astros. Probably will be a top 5 prospect on most lists now. Severity hasn't yet been disclosed but he was carried off the field so that's a bad sign. Got hurt sliding feet first.

I think we've seen enough freak injuries to baseball players over the past year, to start keeping track. First up is Mark Rzepczynski's eye bruise from March 8 Cardinals lefty Rzepczynski injures eye in golf outing : Sports

Eight in a row. Did a beat-down on Verlander, and today they're up 4-0 on Detroit and Scherzer, now 7-0 in the second inning. It is probably good that the Twins are not playing the Royals right now.

Really long home runs are great, but I also love the ones that seem to barely get off the ground. There's something awesome about a ball hit so hard that, despite its lack of trajectory, is able to carry over the outfield wall. ESPN's Home Run Tracker has been measuring HR's since 2006. Not just distance, but other things one of them being Apex. Oakland's Josh Donaldson has the lowest HR so far this year. This shot peaked at 43 feet off the ground. Probably the most impressive this year came off the bat of Giancarlo Stanton. This laser, hit a couple days ago, peaked 6 feet higher than Donaldson's, but the kicker is that it was down the line of the opposite field. That's …

Ugh. This hits really hard. Tony Gwynn was my favorite non-Twins player. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014/06/tony-gwynn-passes-away.html

Has hitting evolved to such a level that will will never see the high avg player again? There are still many high average players in MLB, but many of them are also power guys. Ultimately, that is what every team dreams of (rarely find), but what happened to the high average, high contact, low to medium power, low strikeout, leadoff and #3 hitters? The Tony Gwynn, Wade Bogg, Rod Carew, Ichiro Suzuki, Mark Grace type of player. There used to be more of this type of player, but seem to be disappearing as most players try to add some power to their game.

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/06/17/red-sox-designate-grady-sizemore-for-assignment-call-up-prospect-garin-cecchini/ Most of us knew it was coming...

I have to admit, I was very saddened to hear about the passing of Don Zimmer. Maybe I am feeling a bit melancholy because of this event, but because of Zimmer's contributions to the game of Major League Baseball the last 66 years, I believe there is a place for him the HOF - not as a player, or as a manager, but as a teacher and ambassador of Major League Baseball. Don Zimmer, seemingly has seen it all, and he has picked the minds of Pre-Golden aged Greats, Golden aged Greats and the greats that followed them. His dedication and his passion for baseball stand alone - not to forget, he has been a strong part in Historical events in the MLB. Don Zimmer's dedication an…

KC sent Moustakas to AAA. After his 2010 minor league season - where as a 21 year old he crushed AA/AAA to a line of .322/.369/.630 despite being at least 3 years younger than the league avg - he was ranked the #9 prospect in baseball. He didn't even seem to have too much issues with plate discipline in the minors. And even as a MLer, his k/bb ratios haven't been horrible. But he has been horrible in the bigs.

http://www.nbcsports.com/baseball/mlb/oakland-way A pretty interesting article on the return of Oakland to dominance. One snippet that I believe Twins fans should keep in mind: I see too many write off a player before he gets a legitimate shot at succeeding in the majors. Patience with prospects is a virtue. We've seen the failings of multiple Twins prospects who later shined in the majors: Trevor Plouffe, Brian Dozier, Carlos Gomez, etc. A good thing to keep in mind when talking about the likes of Aaron Hicks and Chris Parmelee. Oakland has become the best team in baseball by not succumbing to knee-jerk reactions. We should all encourage the Twins to do the same…

I'm of the opinion that instant replay and baseball are a perfect fit, because in baseball more then any other sport replay can get 90% of bad calls fixed INSTANTLY. The system in place now of course is anything but that. There are fixes that could improve things between now and a more instant solution, but really for me I just want to see managers go nuts about bad calls again. Lets at the very least do something about the stall tactics before the start of spring training. As for the strike zone thats a simple fix if and when they want to do it although I have no doubt they will find a way to screw that up too.

Joseph Stromberg has a really interesting interview with orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews on the Vox Conversations website: http://www.vox.com/2014/6/13/5803496/an-interview-with-dr-james-andrews-the-man-whos-operated-on-all-your#interview Just a great read but some of the things I found most interesting were his comments about dealing with the press (seems like we've all discussed that before) and his opinion on why there has been such a rash of TJ surgeries (and how to prevent the need). What makes treating athletes so difficult? ... With professionals, it gets even more complicated, because you've still got the patient and the mother — I don't care how …

Cahill is just 1 - 6 with of 5.66, but his FIP/xFIP is right at career norms, and his BABIP is 100 points above career norms. He's walking an extra better per inning but his strikeouts are way up. His contract calls for another eight million this year, twelve and half next, and options after that. I wonder if the Dbacks would be willing to eat some salary, if we took him off their hands. mlbtraderumors fangraphs

So happy to see the turnaround in Neshek's baseball fortunes and to see him and his wife recovering from the loss of their first child. http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2014/06/09/pat-neshek-cardinals-son/10261589/ Will never forget the sizzle of 2007. "Sidearm slinging, we are singing" Of course, Nathan is having problem closing the door.

Former Cy Young award winner and long-time Dodger and A's great, Bob Welch dies at his home, cause of death yet unknown http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/pitcher-bob-welch-dies-57-24076055. Since Denny McClain won 31 games in the 1968 season, the mark for most wins in one season since then is shared by Steve Carlton (27 in 1972) and Welch (27 in 1990). Welch had publicly disclosed battling alchoholism throughout his big league career. In the book he co-authored about his alcoholism, he claims being "stone-cold sober" during his epic 5+ minute World Series battle as a 21-year old rookie against "Mr October", Reggie Jackson, in 1978, posted here for your viewing pl…

Article on the Hardball Time sire remembering Cesar Tovar. A favorite of almost any Twin fan in the 60s and early 70s http://www.hardballtimes.com/card-corner-plus-1974-topps-the-offbeat-life-of-cesar-tovar/

Later in the month I am taking a road trip with some buddies to St Louis and KC. On Friday we plan to watch a Quad Cities River Bandits game at Modern Woodmen Park. It looks like a pretty cool park. Has anybody been there and have any recommendations on seats or things to do following the game?

Back to his Moon Shot self last night: 5 IP, 11 H, 9 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 3 HR. ERA went from 5.79 to 7.62