Victor Martinez suffered from a hernia during the 2016 season. He started out great, with a .352/.394/.553 slash line through June 5. He hit .254/.327/.432 the rest of the way. “He had a small hernia throughout the season,” Avila said. “And I don’t know if you guys noticed, but during the season, he would always […]
Posted by David Pinto at 10:03 pm | Injuries, Players | Permalink | 1 Comment
January 25, 2017
Stanton to WBC
Giancarlo Stanton will play for team USA in the upcoming World Baseball Classic. I like this idea. Stanton played just 193 games the last two seasons combined. Getting competitive at bats in spring training should be good for him.
Posted by David Pinto at 6:32 am | Players, World Cup | Permalink | No Comments
January 21, 2017
Go Speed Racer
Just in case you didn’t think Dee Gordon was fast enough, here is video of him zooming around Marlins Park. 🙂
Posted by David Pinto at 8:09 pm | Players | Permalink | No Comments
January 17, 2017
Where There’s a Wil, There’s a Way
Wil Myers and the Padres agree to a six-year contract extension: According to sources, the 26-year-old first baseman will receive a $15 million signing bonus, to be paid in installments ($1 million within 30 days of approval, $5.5 million on Nov. 15, 2018, and $8.5 million on Nov. 15, 2019). He will make $2 million […]
Posted by David Pinto at 6:51 pm | Management, Players, Transactions | Permalink | No Comments
January 16, 2017
Visualizing Arbitration
FanGraphs offers their 2017 version of the arbitration visualization. What’s most interesting to me is how close the ask and bid price is for most of the players. In other words, teams and agents appear to be on the same page in valuing players. The biggest differences appear to belong to Drew Pomeranz and Dellin […]
Posted by David Pinto at 11:23 am | Management, Players | Permalink | No Comments
January 16, 2017
The Bautista Rumor
The rumor of the day is that Jose Bautista and the Blue Jays are working on a contract: The sides are discussing a two-year deal worth between $35 million and $40 million, MLB Network insider Ken Rosenthal reported early Monday. Note that amount of money indicates the Blue Jays think that Bautista will produce much […]
Posted by David Pinto at 9:37 am | Management, Players, Union | Permalink | No Comments
January 13, 2017
Harper Settles
The Nationals and Bryce Harper reached an agreement on a contract for the 2017 season: Harper settled for $13.625 million, far above the $9 million MLB Trade Rumors projected he would make, and a significant raise over the $5 million his two-year deal paid him last year. Since he had signed a two-year deal before […]
Posted by David Pinto at 2:47 pm | Players, Transactions | Permalink | 1 Comment
January 13, 2017
Rare Event
Neil Weinberg looks at the reasons Coco Crisp has the longest current streak of plate appearances without being hit by a pitch. In addition to being a switch hitter: His main quirk is probably how he buries his chin into his front shoulder. Perhaps there’s something about his stance that gives him an early warning? […]
Posted by David Pinto at 9:52 am | Players, Streaks | Permalink | 2 Comments
January 9, 2017
Turning Japanese
Manny Ramirez signed with a Japanese independent team. The 44-year-old native of the Dominican Republic played for the EDA Rhinos of Chinese Professional Baseball in Taiwan in 2013, .hitting .352 with eight home runs and 43 RBIs. The four-team independent league is based in Shikoku, the smallest and least populous of Japan’s four main islands. […]
Posted by David Pinto at 8:58 am | International, Players | Permalink | 3 Comments
January 3, 2017
Adding Jesus
The Orioles signed Jesus Montero to a minor league deal: Jesus Montero, 27, agreed to a minor league deal, the signing confirmed by executive vice president Dan Duquette. The former elite catching prospect now is a first baseman/designated hitter who’s suspended for the first 50 games of 2017 after testing positive for the banned stimulant […]
Posted by David Pinto at 6:01 pm | Players, Transactions | Permalink | No Comments
January 3, 2017
Low BABIP, Low Strikeouts
Paul Hoynes reviews Edwin Encarnacion‘s career at Cleveland.com. Hoynes picks up on Encarnacion’s ability to keep his strikeouts low: Two things have impressed Jacoby about Encarnacion – his ability to make contact and drive in runs. In an age when no one seems to care how many times a power hitter strikes out, Encarnacion consistently […]
Posted by David Pinto at 6:53 am | Players | Permalink | No Comments
December 31, 2016
Projecting Moustakas
John Viril likes the chances of Mike Moustakas posting big numbers in 2017: Over on Fangraphs.com, Randy Holt pointed out that Mike Moustakas suffered from an unusually bad Batting Average Balls in Play (BABIP) in his short 2016 season. Further, Moustakas’ plate discipline continued to improve with a low 11.5% strikeout rate. Meanwhile, Moustakas’ hard-hit […]
Posted by David Pinto at 9:39 am | Players | Permalink | No Comments
December 30, 2016
Brantley or No Brantley
The Cleveland Indians differ with Jonah Keri on the extent and seriousness of Michael Brantley‘s injury: Honestly, I would not expect the Indians — through official higher-ups or their social channels — to say anything differently. They’ve put the story out there that Brantley is on track, and there’s no reason to sway from that […]
Posted by David Pinto at 2:55 pm | Injuries, Players | Permalink | No Comments
December 28, 2016
The Compassion Position
Jonathan Goehring makes an interesting observation about the Padres and Yangervis Solarte: Solarte’s wife Yulianna passed away in September after a long battle with cancer. This tragedy is one which transcends baseball, and one that the Padres organization has treated with care and respect. Solarte’s desires are not publicly known, but under circumstances such as […]
Posted by David Pinto at 9:15 am | Management, Players | Permalink | No Comments
December 23, 2016
The Big Inning of the Ender
Ender Inciarte and the Braves made a good deal: league sources: Ender Inciarte has agreed to 5-year, $30.525M contract extension with braves — Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 23, 2016 This is the type of deal you do with a good player. The Braves buy out Inciarte’s arbitration years and his first year of free agency. […]
Posted by David Pinto at 9:44 am | Players, Transactions | Permalink | No Comments
December 12, 2016
Jansen Stays in LA
Kenley Jansen and Justin Turner appear to be staying with the Dodgers: The Dodgers completed a significant portion of their off-season shopping on Monday, reaching an agreement to re-sign Jansen, while approaching the final stages of an agreement with Turner, according to people familiar with the situation, who requested anonymity because neither contract had been […]
Posted by David Pinto at 6:17 pm | Free Agents, Pitchers, Players | Permalink | No Comments
December 5, 2016
Harper Offers Nats a Great Deal
Scott Boras asked for a large contract extension for Bryce Harper, and the Nationals are balking at the money: Washington Nationals star Bryce Harper has started talks for a contract extension but is asking for a record-breaking deal that will exceed 10 years in length and pay him more than $400 million, according to USA […]
Posted by David Pinto at 5:30 pm | Management, Players | Permalink | 8 Comments
November 30, 2016
Gardner and the Giants
Harrison Howard suggests the Giants trade for the Yankees Brett Gardner: Gardner’s contract has him with a ball club through 2018, with a team option for 2019. If not this season, but next season the Yankees will need Gardner off the roster. They are rebuilding and don’t need a 33-year-old taking playing time away from […]
Posted by David Pinto at 6:57 am | Players, Team Evaluation | Permalink | No Comments
November 26, 2016
Friends, Roman, Phillies
Tal Venada suggests that Howie Kendrick would be a good stop-gap in the outfield if he bounces back a bit from his 2016 campaign. The projections at FanGraphs make that appear likely. The Phillies need to improve two outfield positions, however, and maybe Roman Quinn is the answer to the other slot. His development was […]
Posted by David Pinto at 8:16 am | Players, Team Evaluation | Permalink | No Comments
November 18, 2016
Poof Goes Plouffe
In a bit of a surprise, the Twins released Trevor Plouffe on Friday: The Twins presumably shopped Plouffe around before making their move, and couldn’t find a taker — his salary likely played a role, as he could’ve made close to $10 million in his final year of arbitration eligibility. I don’t think it was […]
Posted by David Pinto at 8:37 pm | Players, Transactions | Permalink | No Comments
November 17, 2016
MVP Show
The AL and NL Most Valuable Player Awards show is about to start on MLB Network. In the AL, Jose Altuve, Mookie Betts, and Mike Trout vie for the award. In the NL, Kris Bryant, rookie Corey Seager, and Daniel Murphy are up for the trophy. My guess is that Bryant will win the NL […]
Posted by David Pinto at 6:05 pm | Awards, Players | Permalink | No Comments
November 17, 2016
Trading Votto
Redleg Nation examines the idea of the Reds trading Joey Votto. Right now, all signs point to no. He finds this quote from Reds GM Dick Williams: “I certainly haven’t had any discussions with him about [waiving the no-trade],” Reds general manager Dick Williams told MLB Network last week at the General Managers Meetings. “When […]
Posted by David Pinto at 6:47 am | Management, Players | Permalink | No Comments
November 14, 2016
The Red Sox DH
Brandon Nickel knocks down rumors of a Miguel Cabrera trade to the Red Sox: To assume that the Red Sox are seriously contemplating a trade for Cabrera at this moment in time is ludicrous. Whether the rumor was spurred on by daydreaming fans or not, the Red Sox are not going to replace Ortiz’s bat […]
Posted by David Pinto at 7:00 am | Management, Players | Permalink | 1 Comment
November 13, 2016
Fitting in Reddick
Josh Reddick appears to mark all the boxes for matching well with the Orioles. He’s a left-handed corner outfield who hits well at Camden Yards. But what might make Reddick even more attractive to the Orioles than ever is the fact that he was ineligible to receive a qualifying offer after being dealt from the […]
Posted by David Pinto at 9:35 am | Free Agents, Players | Permalink | 1 Comment
November 12, 2016
E to the X, Dy, Dx…
Peter Gammons profiles Austin Filiere, third baseman for MIT: He is a junior with a management science/management analytics major, who’s got it figured this way: he’s taken enough extra courses, like the six he’s taking this semester, so that when June comes around and the MLB Draft unfurls (with teams who saw him finish top […]
Posted by David Pinto at 4:36 pm | Players | Permalink | 3 Comments
November 12, 2016
Song of Bernadette
The Blue Jays won’t need a miracle to get their money’s worth out of Lourdes Gurriel Jr.: In an off-season with several pressing needs, few expected the Blue Jays to commit their first $22 million to a player with zero major league at-bats. Toronto’s seven-year deal with 23-year-old Cuban prospect Lourdes Gurriel Jr., first reported […]
Posted by David Pinto at 9:07 am | International, Management, Players, Transactions | Permalink | 1 Comment
November 11, 2016
Morales to the Blue Jays
Multiple sources indicate the Blue Jays agreed to a three-year, $33 million deal with Kendrys Morales. That looks like they value him at about 1.3 WAR a year, a reasonable estimate. It had seemed that Toronto would at least spend a bit more time looking into a return for Edwin Encarnacion, who had continued to […]
Posted by David Pinto at 8:09 pm | Free Agents, Players | Permalink | No Comments
November 8, 2016
Watching his Weight
The Pablo Sandoval weight watch is on again as Boston hopes to get some value from the third baseman. The word from Dave Dombrowski is that Sandoval dropped weight and is going well in his recovery from labrum surgery: Boston has not decided whether Sandoval will be allowed to play in games this winter. ”He’s […]
Posted by David Pinto at 6:38 am | Players | Permalink | No Comments
November 6, 2016
Two Big Hits are not Enough
Miguel Montero criticized Joe Maddon for not defining Montero’s role in the post-season: “I think the toughest part for me is they never communicated with me,” Montero said. “I’m a veteran guy. They talk about veteran leadership. I have 11 years in the game and two All-Star [appearances]. I expected to be treated a little […]
Posted by David Pinto at 11:25 am | Management, Players | Permalink | No Comments
November 5, 2016
Nowhere But Boston
If David Ortiz plays in 2017, he will play in Boston: “As a formality, the club also exercised its 2017 contract option on designated hitter David Ortiz, who is still expected to retire this offseason.” Now, it makes perfect sense why the team would do this. The extension that Ortiz signed prior to the 2014 […]
Posted by David Pinto at 6:54 pm | Management, Players, Transactions | Permalink | 2 Comments