The San Francisco Giants hired Miguel Tejada to fill their shortstop hole: The World Series champion San Francisco Giants have found their new shortstop, agreeing to terms with free agent Miguel Tejada on a $6.5 million, one-year contract Tuesday. Miguel returns to his major league roots, the bay area. Miguel no longer hits for power […]
Posted by David Pinto at 10:48 pm | Free Agents | Permalink | 1 Comment
November 30, 2010
This is your Dodger Divorce
The latest news on the McCourt divorce is that Frank agreed to a settlement by Jamie didn’t, so the sides are at an impasse.
Posted by David Pinto at 10:39 pm | Owners | Permalink | 2 Comments
November 30, 2010
Arbitration Records
Maury Brown did the leg work to find the all the arbitration records and put them at your fingertips.
Posted by David Pinto at 10:35 pm | Transactions | Permalink | 1 Comment
November 30, 2010
Graphing Excitement
Thuuz came up with a way of measuring the excitement of a game. The idea is to provide fans with alerts, so they can tune to the most exciting game happening at the moment. As an example, here is a graph of the excitement of Roy Halladay’s post-season no hitter. This one showsthe top ten […]
Posted by David Pinto at 2:41 pm | Games | Permalink | 2 Comments
November 30, 2010
Tribe Update
Manny Acta spent the winter so far traveling North America and the Caribbean watching Indians prospects and and checking on the rehabilitation status of injured players: Acta said he was not dismayed by owner Paul Dolan’s statement that now was the wrong time to spend big dollars on players. ”It didn’t upset me, because he […]
Posted by David Pinto at 11:57 am | Management | Permalink | No Comments
November 30, 2010
Fifty Year Old Body, Twenty Year Old Arm
Jamie Moyer decided to undergo Tommy John surgery: On the facebook page for his foundation, Moyer wrote, “It’s official – Jamie is having surgery Wednesday and we are cautiously optimistic Superman make a comeback!” I suspect his career is over, but who knows? With a new arm and his control of off-speed pitches, Moyer might […]
Posted by David Pinto at 11:00 am | Injuries, Pitchers | Permalink | 1 Comment
November 30, 2010
Reds in the Red?
John Fay argues the Troy Tulowitzki contracts hurts the chances of Cincinnati holding on to Joey Votto: But the Tulowitzki extension is the one that could be more troubling long run for the Reds. Votto’s agent will probably bring a printout of the year-by-year breakdown to the negotiating session with the Reds. A Reds insider […]
Posted by David Pinto at 10:40 am | Management, Players | Permalink | No Comments
November 30, 2010
I Don’t Give a Darn
John Shea looks at the Giants options at shortstop now that Jun Uribe moved on to the Dodgers. I’m not really crazy about any of the options, including the in-house ones. Prying Jose Reyes away from the Mets would fill the position best, but I’m not sure the Giants can give New York enough for […]
Posted by David Pinto at 9:19 am | Management | Permalink | 1 Comment
November 29, 2010
Rockies Rolling
The Rockies are about to sign Troy Tulowitzki and Jorge de la Rosa to long term contracts: After a relatively quiet offseason, the Rockies are poised to pull off a remarkable double play. They have agreed in principle on a seven-year, $130-million extension with Troy Tulowitzki that Will Carry him through the 2020 season, making […]
Posted by David Pinto at 11:38 pm | Free Agents, Transactions | Permalink | No Comments
November 29, 2010
Players A to Z, Wes Helms
Wes Helms plays third base for the Marlins. After cups of coffee in 1998 and 2000, Wes came to the majors for good in 2001 and made a good career for himself as a backup third and sometimes first baseman. He did post four good seasons, from age 27 to 30, just when you would […]
Posted by David Pinto at 7:50 pm | Players, Players A to Z | Permalink | No Comments
November 29, 2010
Plan for the Sloan Conference!
I just received an email from the MIT-Sloan Sports Analytics conference: The 2011 conference will be bigger and better than ever. We have: * Expanded the event to two days: March 4 and 5, 2011 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center (BCEC) * Introduced a sports trade show for small businesses * Evolved the […]
Posted by David Pinto at 6:47 pm | Statistics | Permalink | No Comments
November 29, 2010
Texas Torrealba
Yorvit Torrealba signed a two-year contract with the Rangers to be their starting catcher. Color me underwhelmed. A few years ago the Rangers seemed to hold a lot of depth at the position, so much so they thought of trading some away. Now they sign a low value player to a two-year deal? This doesn’t […]
Posted by David Pinto at 6:00 pm | Free Agents | Permalink | No Comments
November 29, 2010
McDougald Dies
Gil McDougald passed away today, Monday. McDougald played a pivotal role on eight Yankee American League pennant-winning teams from 1951-60, winning Rookie of the Year honors in 1951 when he hit .306 with 14 homers and 63 RBI. He was named to the All-Star team five times, as a third baseman in 1952, a shortstop […]
Posted by David Pinto at 5:51 pm | Deaths | Permalink | 1 Comment
November 29, 2010
Players A to Z, Jeremy Hellickson
Jeremy Hellickson pitches for the Tampa Bay Rays. Hellickson collected four starts in his first cup of coffee, then came up again in September to pitch in relief. He impressed in his starts, which is the role he’ll carry into the future with the Rays. He struck out 25 and walked four in 26 1/3 […]
Posted by David Pinto at 5:15 pm | Pitchers, Players A to Z | Permalink | No Comments
November 29, 2010
The Edge of Hits
At Baseball Analytics, I look at the ability of Michael Bourn to collect hits on the edge of the strike zone.
Posted by David Pinto at 5:06 pm | Players | Permalink | No Comments
November 29, 2010
Dodgers and Uribe
The Dodgers are close to signing Juan Uribe: Uribe didn’t have a particularly impressive season, hitting his usual .250 with a terrible on-base percentage and 20-homer power, but a player contributing a couple key hits on a World Series winner can make general managers do funny things. The money appears to be $21 million for […]
Posted by David Pinto at 1:53 pm | Free Agents | Permalink | 3 Comments
November 29, 2010
Players A to Z, Chris Heisey
Chris Heisey plays the outfield for the Cincinnati Reds. Heisey was a true rookie in 2010, getting his first taste of major league service with 226 plate appearances in 97 games. His slash line of .254/.324/.433 was good but not overly impressive. Chris did a very good job of getting on base in the minors […]
Posted by David Pinto at 1:30 pm | Players, Players A to Z | Permalink | No Comments
November 29, 2010
Circle Me, Bert
The Hall of Fame ballot comes out today, so people who want Bert Blyleven elected can start their final push. I wrote this about two years ago to show that Bert collected fewer wins and more losses than one would expect based on his game scores. Note, however, that Bert had his surly side, like […]
Posted by David Pinto at 12:06 pm | All-Time Greats | Permalink | 1 Comment
November 29, 2010
Post Season Shares
Giants players earned around $318,000 for winning the World Series: The figure is slightly less than the $350,030 earned by members of the New York Yankees last season. The total amount is seven percent smaller than last year, though it is the third-highest in history. Smaller stadiums in this year’s playoffs resulted in a smaller […]
Posted by David Pinto at 11:55 am | Post Season | Permalink | 1 Comment
November 29, 2010
Foul Eye
A woman who lost sight in an eye hit by a foul ball is suing the Round Rock Express. About three months after Speer was injured, the team’s insurer offered her $1,192 to pay for the medical bills that her health insurance didn’t cover. She rejected the offer, in part because signing the agreement would […]
Posted by David Pinto at 11:39 am | Fans, Injuries | Permalink | 1 Comment
November 29, 2010
The Ageless Wonder
Happy Birthday to Vin Scully, 83 years old today!
Posted by David Pinto at 11:00 am | Broadcasts | Permalink | No Comments
November 29, 2010
Buttoning Up
Flip Flop Fly Ballin’ shows where buttons split team names on 2010 jerseys, home and away. I love uniforms like the Rays and Jays wear, with a letter split between two sides.
Posted by David Pinto at 10:57 am | Uniforms | Permalink | No Comments
November 29, 2010
Players A to Z, Aaron Heilman
Aaron Heilman pitched in relief for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2010. The Diamondbacks offered him arbitration as Heilman became a free agent this winter. Aaron brings durability to the bullpen. Since he became a full time reliever in 2006, Heilman pitched more innings in relief than anyone else in the majors: Relief Innings from 2006 […]
Posted by David Pinto at 8:51 am | Pitchers, Players A to Z | Permalink | No Comments
November 29, 2010
Rumors and Counter Rumors
George King shoots down the rumors that the Yankees added $5 million to the Derek Jeter pot: According to a report last night, the Yankees had added $5 million to their three-year, $45 million offer to Derek Jeter. A person with knowledge of the negotiations, however, said that wasn’t the case. It strikes me that […]
Posted by David Pinto at 7:42 am | Free Agents | Permalink | 1 Comment
November 28, 2010
Funnny Man Gone
Leslie Neilsen passed away. No one could ump like him: My thoughts go out to his family and friends.
Posted by David Pinto at 11:21 pm | Deaths | Permalink | 3 Comments
November 28, 2010
Sleeping with the Fishes
Javier Vazquez is close to a one-year deal with the Florida Marlins. I like the deal for Javy. He’s going back to the National League, and to a good ballpark. From the Marlins point of view I’m not so sure without seeing the money. Vazquez’s strikeouts took a real hit in 2010. On the other […]
Posted by David Pinto at 1:48 pm | Free Agents, Pitchers | Permalink | 1 Comment
November 28, 2010
Win Expectancies
Tom Tango provides a handy-dandy win expectancy matrix. It gives the probability for the home team winning at the start of a half inning by run difference. This is a very useful tool for real time gamblers.
Posted by David Pinto at 12:55 pm | Statistics | Permalink | 1 Comment
November 27, 2010
Justin Just Fine
Justin Morneau says he’ll be ready for spring training: But Morneau has started working out hard this week and said that doctors recently put him through another battery of concussion tests. “It’s still improving,” Morneau said. “They’re encouraging me to workout and do everything you can do there. It’s gone well.” Morneau plans to head […]
Posted by David Pinto at 8:06 pm | Injuries, Players | Permalink | 1 Comment
November 27, 2010
Equal Reactions
SportsReactions is a new blog covering sports, including baseball. Stop by and say hi.
Posted by David Pinto at 7:55 pm | Blogs | Permalink | No Comments
November 27, 2010
Players A to Z, Chase Headley
Chase Headley players third base for the San Diego Padres. Headly does a decent job of getting on base and hits for doubles power, but you wouldn’t know that looking at his overall stat line. PETCO Park greatly depresses his averages. For his career, Chase posted a .226/.311/.338 slash line at home, .296/.355/.435 on the […]
Posted by David Pinto at 5:01 pm | Players, Players A to Z | Permalink | No Comments