Other Baseball

http://deadspin.com/oldest-living-mlb-player-dies-at-102-1566693022 Connie Marrero played for the Twins former team, the Washington Senators. Interesting tidbit about him, after he retired, he moved back to Cuba where he didn't get his baseball pension until about 4 years ago b/c it was Cuba. http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/appears-mlb-finally-pay-connie-marrero-pension-owed-article-1.948722

I've been watching these two pitch tonight. What a great pitchers duel. After 5 innings... No runs allowed... 3 hits combined. A couple Real Deal Arms in my opinion.

As with anything this time of year limited sample size alert, but our old friend Justin Morneau is putting up some nice numbers in Colorado. His slash is .346/.386/.538, he isn't hitting for huge power with only 2 home runs but I think everyone understands his big power days are probably behind him. He is still playing excellent defense at first and is being used well with limited at bats vs lefties. I will always be a Morneau fan and its really nice to see him get back on track, if there is one other team I am routing for this year it is Rox because of Morneau and Cuddles. http://www.purplerow.com/2014/4/18/5626842/justin-morneau-has-been-pretty-dang-good-so-far

How about this idea for better pennant races and more revenue at the end of the season? The first place team in each division plays the second place team in that division while the 3rd place team plays the 4th place team and the 5th plays other divisions. Your position would be determined after 154 games. The last 8 games would be played over the last 10 days of the season. 4 home and 4 away and sold as a package at the beginning of the season. If the second place team is 4 games out with 8 games to go if they win 6 out of 8 they tie at the end of the season. The third place team has a shot of making the playoffs so maybe the 3rd place teams play each other and t…

Today is the anniversary of a famous event in MLB history...without checking BBRef, why? Bonus: Who was in LF when this happened?

Interesting article on Fangraphs here about Kyle Loshe's transition from a thrower to a pitcher. Very interesting perspective. He makes it sound like the Twins wanted him to be a strikeout pitcher and he didn't really learn the value of being a control pitcher until he left the organization. It's interesting to me because that seems to be the exact opposite of what we hear everywhere else. I wonder if this has more to do with his emotional maturity and ability to respect/connect with a different pitching coach or organization. Thoughts?

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/mlb/mlb-rules-committee-votes-to-end-home-plate-collisions?ymd=20131211&content_id=64598138&vkey=news_mlb Saw this today - not surprised. Won't solve all the issues but given the growing body of research on concussions it was probably inevitable. I know some will say it changes the game, and I'm sympathetic to those concerns. That said, I think this is a good step.

MLB released the rules and regulations for the new instant replay system that is scheduled to be in play in 2014:

http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/story/_/id/10672700/new-york-mets-minor-league-pitching-coach-frank-viola-open-heart-surgery-per-sources

Jon Morosi has been tweeting some statistics about the number of foreign born players in mlb: Jon Morosi ‏@jonmorosi · 17m MLB announces 26.1% of players on Opening Day rosters are foreign-born. Yan Gomes becomes first Brazilian on an Opening Day roster. Jon Morosi ‏@jonmorosi · 18m Texas Rangers, with 15, have most foreign-born players on their Opening Day roster. Jon Morosi ‏@jonmorosi · 13m 36.8% of foreign-born players are from the Dominican Republic, the largest share of any country. The Twins, with 5 players born outside the U.S. on their 25-man (Deduno & Florimon from the Dominican Republic and Pinto, Escobar and Arcia from Venezuela) are a l…

Two available FA pitchers have a no-hitter through 5 innings-- Harang and Garza. Garza signed with the Brewers helping make them a contender in the NL. (My IPAD added the extra couple of letters on Harang.)

The Washington post reports Wilson Ramos to miss 4-8 weeks after surgery on his wrist. 1) is the time right to trade Zuke back to the Nats? 2) was the Caps trade really that bad after all?

http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--cpKJInpq--/c_fit,fl_progressive,w_636/vusf4i2pazgozvfczwdr.jpg We in Atlanta would like to welcome you to bring your significant other to the ballpark for a game and a proposal for the low-low price of $50! (Plus, it helps our attendance numbers!)

As promised, some factoids from the O/U contest: Team O/U #of over picks #of under picks Arizona Diamondbacks - 80.5 17 overs - 19 unders Atlanta Braves - 87.5 18-18 Baltimore Orioles - 80.5 21-15 Boston Red Sox - 87.5 24-12 Chicago Cubs - - 69.5 14-22 Chicago White Sox - 75.5 2-34 (You like apples, Hawk?...) Cincinnati Reds - 84.5 22-14 Cleveland Indians - 80.5 20-16 Colorado Rockies - 76.5 19-17 Detroit Tigers - 89.5 26-10 Houston Astros - 62.5 26-10 Kansas City Royals - 81.5 25-11 Los Angeles Angels - 86.5 16-20 Los Angeles Dodgers - 92.5 15-21 Miami Marlins - 69.5 17-19 Milwaukee Brewers - 79.5 15-21 Minnesota Twins -…

Mike Trout signs a 6 year deal with the Angels that is worth $144.5 million. The contract will start during the 2015 season. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014/03/angels-to-extend-mike-trout.html

Where I'm at, it's 9:00PM and just got done watch the Season Opener. Nice to see live ball at a reasonable time (4PM start, Beijing time) for once! As an expat who is always looking for the game in China (just made friends with a Korean amateur league here- they even had a Wok on the field for the post-game chow down!) I am very excited to see MLB making the effort to grow the game. Still, I wonder if I'm alone in this view... there was no game thread for this one- I know, not a Twins game, but... Time difference, weekend, hangovers all factors...? The Twins have been pretty aggressive/ahead of the curve in scouting the ABL, and have benefited a la Balfour, etc. (…

So the Tigers have added 8 years and $248 million to the 2 years and $44 million they already owed Miguel Cabrera. I know he's been one of the best (if not the best) hitters over the past 8-10 years, but this seems like the type of contract that will give the Tigers a lot of headaches starting about 5-6 years from now. I love watching Cabrera hit, but this sounds like good news for the Twins. Hopefully this contract will be an albatross for the Tigers during the prime years of Sano, Buxton, Meyer, etc.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014/03/union-george-springers-agent-considering-grievance.html George Springer - usually considered a top 15 or so prospect - might file a grievance against Houston for sending him down after not signing a team friendly contract. I hope he wins this. To many teams screw over players on service time and the Astros are just a stupid franchise that deserves to get nailed on this.

Not really a surprise but deadspin has a nice article on how mlb.com writers are expected to not be negative toward their teams. http://deadspin.com/dodgers-pr-boss-says-mlb-com-writers-spin-news-the-way-1548072328

MLB ‏@MLB 1h Tests on @tigers SS Jose Iglesias show bilateral tibial stress fractures, will be limited to non-weight bearing exercise for 4-6 months. Isn't "bilateral tibial stress fractures" limited to non-weight bearing exercise just a more severe form of "bilateral leg weakness"?

Everything fantasy baseball. Who is going #1? Who will be the biggest sleeper? Best pitcher? Biggest risk? Best value? Is there a rookie who is going to bust onto the scene?

Aledmys Diaz signed a 4 year deal with the St Louis Cardinals today. Sounds like it was supposed to be under $20M for the 4 years. I am kind of happy the Twins didn't make such an offer since he really doesn't sound like a game changing shortstop. Should hit for average but not much power and isn't a strong defensive shortstop, so I am not sure how he could get such a payday out of the Cards who don't seem to have a spot for him to play.

Jeff Todd has a thought-provoking piece about the Qualifying Offer system over at mlb trade rumors: http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014/03/contextualizing-the-qualifying-offer-system.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter There is a lot to think about in this piece and I'm really looking forward to his follow-up article on what the QO system accomplishes. This first installment goes to the question of Fundamental Fairness. Was it fair that Santana had to deal with the impact of a QO when Garza (a seemingly better pitcher) did not because he was lucky enough to be traded mid-season? What impact does the QO system have on the entire free agency process? Wi…

I was wondering if any of you guys knew websites for best keeping track of which top prospects were still in on the MLB spring training roster. Or a place to see current MLB rosters (would be a way to see rookies still on the rosters) Some noteable top rookies still in Spring Training with the ML clubs. Houston: Carlos Correa - who at age 19...can he be the opening day starting SS? George Springer - not surprising, starred at AAA last year St. Louis Stephen Piscotty - half of a season at AA last year - would be a big surprise, to make it ahead of Top 5 prospect Tavares (also was at AAA last yr) Kolten Wong - ended up with STL in the WS, not a big surprise Cubs…

The folks at Baseball Prospectus have released a new method for calculating value of catcher pitch framing. http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=22934 It seems very thorough, as it adjusts for all of the following factors: 1) They created multiple unique ball-strike probability maps to account for a number of different factors: each separate ball-strike count, 5 separate pitch types: fastball, curveball, slider, offspeed and knuckleball, batter height and handedness, and pitcher handedness. 2) Run values based on specific ball-strike count. For example, getting a strike call on a 3-2 pitch is much more valuable than on a 3-0 pitch. 3) Adjuste…

http://www.mlb.com/news/article/mlbam-introduces-new-way-to-analyze-every-play?content_id=68514514&partnerId=as_mlb_20140301_19352324&ymd=20140301 This sounds pretty amazing .... and exciting that TF is one of the first.

Hello Internet! I'm starting a local fantasy baseball league and am looking for potential participants. Here's the details. 12 teams H2H points $50 entry (everything though leaguesafe) 5 keepers (with option to add more each successive season) Online draft date TBD I've set up the league through ESPN. Reply here or PM me if you're interested. I'll send you an invite so you can check it out the league page. Baseball!

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/the-retirement-tour-that-isn-t-getting-all-the-pub-022310129.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter Even though he is almost a Whitie Lifer, still one of my favorites.

Jeter. Don't get me wrong, he is talented and a sure fire hall of famer, but I can't think of a more over-rated player in my lifetime. Defensively he was below average at best, offensively he was solid, but benefited IMO from ridiculous lineups around him. Again, hall of famer? Yes. One of the best to play the game like some people claim. No way. The coverage this year is going to be puke worthy.:whacky028: