Other Baseball

I know this has been reported about an hour ago, but I wanted to say I was floored when I heard Cleveland made the move. They might as well surrender their 3rd round pick for Lohse and make Boras happy. Did anyone see this happening? I really don't think the move does much for Cleveland to get them past Detroit in the Central. Maybe they will keep him and deal him (to the Mets) in July.

I would be happy to be a Cleveland fan this offseason. I actually think they had the best offseason in the division, if not the AL. Some of the major additions: Terry Francona Nick Swisher Trevor Bauer Mark Reynolds Drew Stubbs Brett Myers And even these guys are in Cleveland with minor-league deals and ST invites: Jason Giambi Daisuke Matsuzaka Matt Capps Scott Kazmir Giovanni Soto Ryan Raburn Jeremy Hermida Ben Francisco Sure, a lot of those guys aren't going to pan out, but they are all very low-risk, high-reward types of signings. I am one who favors stockpiling a lot of these types who have had succes in the past. Who knows, they could be steals. And …

The Miami New Times reports that a medical clinic in the south Florida area has evidence of supplying HGH, testosterone and anabolic steroids to various professional athletes. A spreadsheet, chronicling the sales of said items, has MLB players such as Alex Rodriguez, Gio Gonzalez, Melky Cabrera, Bartolo Colon and Nelson Cruz. Two things come to mind when reading this article: (1) This is a poorly run outfit and (2) this probably is not the only one. UPDATE: MLB has responded to the Miami New Times story here.

This is an excellent segment on MLB's Clubhouse Confidential that examines both the statistical side of the value of pitch framing (with Baseball Prospectus's Ben Lindbergh) and the practice of pitch framing (with former MLB catcher Dave Valle). Watch this when you get the opportunity.

Discussions between Fort Myers and the Nats about being a possible third Spring Training team in the city. http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20130205/NEWS01/302050014/Nationals-want-36-6M-move-Fort-Myers

I'm asking for a little help. I am moving to Idaho in a few weeks, and while I will continue to be a Twins fan and follow the team long distance, I'll also probably follow somebody a little closer as well. Looking at the map, Seattle and Colorado appear to be about equidistant from where I'll be living. I know next to nothing about these franchises, other than Seattle is in the AL, Colorado is in the NL, and both are historically underperformers with projected payroll this year lower than the Twins. Any advice on which club would be the more satisfying to follow? Which one is likely to excel in the years to come? Thanks!

Hmmmm...I know the national media are all ripping on Arizona on this one, but I think the Braves gave up a solid group for Upton. Justin Upton and Chris Johnson for Martin Prado, Randall Delgado, Zeke Spruill, and Nick Ahmed Depending on your source, there are some saying the Braves made this move without give up a single top 5 prospect (though Sickels has Spruill #5 and Ahmed #7 in the system). I just really think Martin Prado is an underrated player for what he brings to the table. He's very solid defensively at multiple positions, has a good bat, and he's a great clubhouse guy. I also like Delgado more than most, seeing him as being a very solid mid-rotation…

Pretty interesting article. The Fellowship of the Miserable: How Boston Sportswriters Got So Awful

This article does not give much reason for hope for the future of major league baseball in the Tampa Bay area. But if they move, where would they go? What's a market currently without an MLB team that could support one? It doesn't seem to me like there are that many. North Carolina (Raleigh/Durham or Charlotte)? Tennessee (Nashville or Memphis)? Would San Juan, PR be a viable option?

Hall of Famer Earl Weaver, former manager of Baltimore Orioles, dies at 82 - ESPN My first computer baseball game, way back in the 80s, was Earl Weaver Baseball. He actually worked with the game designer's to create the AI strategy. One of baseball's most colorful characters. RIP.

lol.

Pitching: If you’re a young pitching prospect looking for an early debut in the bigs, you clearly want to be drafted and developed by the Atlanta Braves. Of the 33 Braves pitchers that debuted with the club in the last 10 years, 15 of them (46%) have been under age 23 including such youngsters as Julio Teheran, Kyle Davies, Tommy Hansen, and Craig Kimbrel. The average Braves pitcher making his debut is 23.6 which, along with the Florida Marlins, is the youngest average team debut age. Twins pitchers, on average, are 24.3 when they debut with only 6 of 34 having been younger than 23. (17.6%) Both of these numbers are near average as the typical MLB pitcher over the last …

One of the All-Time Baseball Greats, Stan "The Man" Musial, passed away earlier this afternoon. One cannot argue with his baseball stats and achievements. Even more important, it seems to be apparent that he was one of the all-time good human beings to be involved in baseball and out of it. R.I.P. Stan - you will never be forgotten

mlbtraderumors.com: "The Tigers and Cubs are discussing a potential three-way trade that would send Rick Porcello to Chicago with the Orioles as the third party, according to Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. The Tigers want Baltimore involved because they want shortstop J.J. Hardy and they don't feel that the Cubs have the necessary components to make it a two-team trade." Tigers, Cubs, Orioles Discussed Three-Way Deal: MLB Rumors - MLBTradeRumors.com From a Twins Perspective this is scary. Not that the Twins will contend next year anyway, but Hardy is signed through 2014. And I would rather not see any of the A.L. Central teams be really good. And this would make a …

In the days after RG3 suffered what could be a career limiting knee injury on an already gimpy knee, did anyone of you think about the Nationals play it safe approach? I thought it was ironic that both teams are up and coming. One choose to play all of it's cards now, and the other decided to take a more cautious approach. The Nats got ripped a lot in the national press in the months leading up to their first playoff appearance, and now the Redskins are taking their fair share of criticism after RG3s.

Tomorrow, MLB and the Baseball Hall of Fame will announce whether or not any players will be inducted into the Hall. The announcement typically comes at 1:00 central time. Here is the 2013 Hall of Fame Ballot: 2013 Official Hall of Fame Ballot - Baseball-Reference.com If you had a vote, who would get your vote? Like the writers, you can vote for zero to ten of the candidates. Pete Rose is not on the ballot, so you can write him in if you feel he should. I'd like to have people use the below thread to "cast your vote" and tell us your reasons for your vote. I'll be curious to see how Twins Daily's vote lines up with the actual vote. So, for me... My vote is for: B…

Just saw on MLBTR that Gray was signed to a minor league deal by the White Sox with an invite to Spring Training. My guess is that he doesn't make the team.

Nobody gets the 75% necessary. Biggio comes closest. I'm sure there will be all sorts of people wringing their hands over nobody being elected, but I just don't see it being a big deal. There will be elections next year when Maddux, Thomas and Glavine become eligible.

Only the great Francisco Liriano could have his contract with the Pirates on hold with a RIGHT arm injury. If the Pirates can wiggle out of this mistake of a 2 YR deal they would have to be blessed. They would be better suited making a deal with the Dodgers for a couple of their extra starters like Chris Capuano and Aaron Harang. (Good thing Terry Ryan has his rotation set with his off season additions.

Is anyone else here playing this?

If you have never visited the site where the movie "Field of Dreams" was filmed, near Dyersville IA, you soon may have a new reason to visit... especially if you have kids who play baseball/softball. Go the Distance Baseball, LLC has plans to build a $38 million youth baseball/softball complex at the Field of Dreams site that will include 24 new ballfields of varying types/sizes (in addition to the original field, of course). The Dyersville City Council has approved a $5.1 million property tax rebate for Go the Distance Baseball, LLC, which is over and above a $16.6 million state sales tax rebate approved by the Iowa Legislature and Governor in April. If that ghostl…

The passing of a great - Roberto Clemente. Clemente, Roberto | Baseball Hall of Fame

How do we know if a team's payroll is too high or too low? AFAIK, teams do not share their financial information with the public. None are publicly held, which would require disclosure. Not only do they not have to disclose the information, they do not have to be honest with what they do disclose. What we might need to know is how does the payroll affect these... 1. The long-term value of the franchise? News flash... Most of the money made in baseball is made when the franchise is sold. Calvin Griffith cried about losing money most years then retired to his ranch when he sold his burden to poor Carl Pohlad for $44 Million. Poor Carl's $44 Million investment was wo…

They're playing the 1991 World Series game 7 with Morris and Smoltz in the interview room with Bob Costas. Fun watch, but it's very easy to understand why my fellow Braves fans cannot stand Kent Hrbek and speak of him with four-letter adjectives.

Ugueth Urbina will return to baseball after spending nearly six years in Venezuelan prison | Big League Stew - Yahoo! Sports The likelihood is this guy will never make it back to the big leagues, but if he did I think his intimidation factor went up a notch.

I was looking at the pitching acquisitions that the Cubs have made, and when you look at the potential WAR that the new guys will bring, and the negative WAR that they will be ditching with their old crummy guys, they might be in line for 80 wins. I explain it all in depth in a blog post here: Cubs Could Contend in 2013 Based on WAR and Optimism « Kyle's Sports Thoughts What do you guys think? One big "if" is how our boy Scott Baker bounces back from TJ. And even if the Cubs arent competitive, they at least are improving more on last year's terribleness than the Twins. Minus the Edwin Jackson signing, I wish the Twins would have signed the same pitchers the …

RIP Ryan Freel... A player who always hustled, who always gave the proverbial 110%. I enjoy watching players like that who play above their talent. A shame that he lost the battle with his demons.

Angels trade Kendrys Morales to Seattle for Pitcher Jason Vargas. Los Angeles Angels trade Kendrys Morales to Seattle Mariners for Jason Vargas - ESPN Seems to be a good trade for both teams. I wonder if the Twins could have got Vargas for Morneau? Thoughts?

There was a lot of discussion when he walked away from his contract with the Twins. He left a bunch of money on the table, choosing to effectively turn down $3.25 million guaranteed to play out the remaining year of his contract at Rochester. It was announced that he has a two-year deal with the Hanshin Tigers, for about $7.4MM, meaning he'll earn more money than he forfeited with the Twins. He had a rough couple of years in the US, I hope things start to work out well for him back in Japan.

With the upcoming Hall or Fame Vote and the presence of a number of steroid-linked players on the ballot, would the issue be as off-putting for voters if Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens had been pleasant human beings? Are some baseball writers actually glad to have the steroids issue to hold over Bonds' and Clemens' heads as a payback for their being jerks most of their careers - even if it means setting a standard that too severely judges the other players from that era?