The White Sox signed Alexei Ramirez to a four year deal worth $32.5 million. Although Ramirez doesn’t hit well, his excellent defense at shortstop makes this deal well worth the money for the White Sox, even if he declines as he enters his 30s.
Posted by David Pinto at 7:32 pm | Transactions | Permalink | 4 Comments
January 31, 2011
Reds Done
The Reds signed Edinson Volquez to a one-year contract, completing their signing of players and avoiding all arbitration hearings. It looks like their payroll will be around $68 million. That should give them plenty of flexibility to add players if the fans come out after their 2010 playoff appearance. Update: I look at Edinson’s adjustments […]
Posted by David Pinto at 5:53 pm | Transactions | Permalink | No Comments
January 31, 2011
Rob Neyer No Longer Sweet
Rob Neyer goes out with a bang, nominating Bo Jackson for the Hall of the Amazing. I can’t agree more. Bo was not a classically great player; there were plenty of flaws in his game. In the late 1980s, however, he was the one player I’d pay to see, since he might do something amazing. […]
Posted by David Pinto at 2:51 pm | All-Time Greats, Blogs | Permalink | 3 Comments
January 31, 2011
Feel the Heat
FanGraphs introduces customizable heat maps.
Posted by David Pinto at 2:01 pm | Statistics | Permalink | No Comments
January 31, 2011
Watch Grass Grow
You can watch a live feed of the installation of AstroTurf at Tropicana Field. Sure beats the dryer channel. Hat tip, The Heater.
Posted by David Pinto at 1:08 pm | Stadiums | Permalink | No Comments
January 31, 2011
Betting on Duchscherer
Justin Duchscherer decided to join the Orioles, and location was an important consideration: Duchscherer, 33, chose the Orioles over the Washington Nationals and the Seattle Mariners, partially because he wanted to be close to his son in southern New Jersey and also because the Orioles will allow him to compete for a spot in their […]
Posted by David Pinto at 11:51 am | Free Agents | Permalink | 1 Comment
January 31, 2011
There is Another
Via Hardball Talk, the Wilpons involvement with the Madoff Ponzi scheme was the second time the Mets owner was taken in by fraud. The firm Wilpon and Katz started, Sterling Stamos, was accused of having withdrawn money from a fund run by Bayou after detecting evidence of possible fraudulent activity. The firm took out nearly […]
Posted by David Pinto at 11:09 am | Owners | Permalink | 1 Comment
January 31, 2011
Rough Winter
Brian Duensing and his wife Lisa had a school shooting hit very close to home earlier in January.
Posted by David Pinto at 10:59 am | Crime | Permalink | No Comments
January 31, 2011
Bearing All
Pablo Sandoval posted a new profile picture at Twitter. The gut is still there, but it looks much smaller. Hat tip, The Sporting News.
Posted by David Pinto at 10:46 am | Players | Permalink | No Comments
January 31, 2011
Indifferent
Sully Baseball takes on defensive indifference:
Posted by David Pinto at 10:36 am | Rules | Permalink | 1 Comment
January 31, 2011
Suddenly, A Nickname
Bob Dolgan reminisces about nicknaming Sam McDowell. I christened him in spring training in 1961, in Tucson, Arizona. As the rookie baseball writer for The Cleveland Plain Dealer at the time, I deliberately set out to give him a nickname. I was trying to impress my editors and my colleagues. McDowell, then 18, was drawing […]
Posted by David Pinto at 8:57 am | All-Star Game, News Media | Permalink | No Comments
January 31, 2011
Graceland
Let’s Go Tribe writes on what it’s like to read about the Indians in the national media: But, as a fan, an obsessive, off the rails fan, the kind who knows the difference between Clayton Cook and Austin Adams, I sometimes have to squash an impulse to write Crasnick and his cronies a strongly worded […]
Posted by David Pinto at 8:17 am | Team Evaluation | Permalink | No Comments
January 31, 2011
Water Stadium
The Angels were given the option of building a stadium on a reservoir in 1964. The dam burst and flooded the area the previous year. The configuration would have been very strange for baseball.
Posted by David Pinto at 8:06 am | History | Permalink | No Comments
January 30, 2011
Cash and Cain
At Baseball Analytics, I look at a similarity between Matt Cain and Andrew Cashner.
Posted by David Pinto at 7:26 pm | Pitchers | Permalink | No Comments
January 30, 2011
Grand Tour
Curtis Granderson finished his trip to New Zealand and posted video highlights.
Posted by David Pinto at 2:36 pm | International, Players | Permalink | No Comments
January 30, 2011
Two Fifties
John Tomase wonders if the 2011 Red Sox can be the first team in 20 years to boast two players with 50 stolen bases. One thing in favor of this happening is the Red Sox manage the running game very well. Over the last six seasons, the Red Sox posted great stolen base percentages in […]
Posted by David Pinto at 12:14 pm | Base Running, Team Evaluation | Permalink | 1 Comment
January 30, 2011
Strange Trade Clause
There is a clause in Carl Crawford‘s contract that prevents him from being traded to the Yankees if the Red Sox trade him to another team. I assume the Red Sox, not Crawford, wanted this, although it’s not clear from the post. I would think that if Carl ends up playing poorly, the Red Sox […]
Posted by David Pinto at 10:14 am | Players, Trades | Permalink | 3 Comments
January 30, 2011
More Mets Suitors
More people are interested in buying a piece of the Mets, including Martin Luther King III. As far as I can tell, however, none are willing to be silent partners. That’s actually good for the Wilpons, as more interest means they’re more likely to get their price, although it’s becoming clear they’ll have to share […]
Posted by David Pinto at 9:28 am | Owners | Permalink | 1 Comment
January 29, 2011
Francoeur’s Flys
At Baseball Analytics, I look at how Jeff Francoeur’s focus on fly balls hurts him with men on base.
Posted by David Pinto at 5:51 pm | Players | Permalink | No Comments
January 29, 2011
Vodka Citi
Martin Silver wants to buy a minority stake in the Mets. Silver, a liquor distributor and owner of the Georgi Vodka brand, said he is only willing to invest if he has some say in day-to-day operations of the team. “Anybody who is going to the bank to borrow money and invest in the team […]
Posted by David Pinto at 2:44 pm | Owners | Permalink | 1 Comment
January 29, 2011
More on the Wilpons
Joe McDonald provides more information on the lawsuit facing the Mets owners: Well according to multiple sources, the law suit filed by Madoff Trustee Irving Picard, not only is trying to seize any profits the Mets received, but also is going for punitive damages since the Wilpons referred clients to the Ponzi swindler. That number […]
Posted by David Pinto at 8:26 am | Owners | Permalink | No Comments
January 29, 2011
10-5 Pujols
Albert Pujols owns a little more leverage over the Cardinals. As a player with ten years of service and the last five years with the same team, he can veto any trade: The understanding within the St. Louis front office is that Pujols will not accept any trade going forward, according to sources. He has […]
Posted by David Pinto at 8:09 am | Management, Players | Permalink | No Comments
January 28, 2011
Jeter’s Stride
Kevin Long talks to Ben Shpigel about altering Derek Jeter’s stride. I love this part, where Long talks about Jeter’s swing always having a flaw: Molitor recorded 3,319 hits in his Hall of Fame career. Jeter has 2,924, most of which have been collected with mechanics that, according to Long, are slightly flawed. All hitters […]
Posted by David Pinto at 7:38 pm | Players | Permalink | 1 Comment
January 28, 2011
Mets Mess
The Mets may need to raise some money due to a lawsuit that arose from the Madoff scandal. After reading the story, I really want Emma Span to own the team. Actually, I’ve had a longstanding fantasy about what I would do if I owned a baseball team. Note that even if I were to […]
Posted by David Pinto at 5:21 pm | Owners | Permalink | 1 Comment
January 28, 2011
Ballpark Entrance
Devon Young sends along this link to a beautiful picture of League Park in Cleveland, circa 1910: At the time, the Naps had a great intersecting of careers among their players… Nap Lajoie, Cy Young, Joss, & a 20 year old Shoeless Joe on the team. Sounds like a good time to be a Cleveland […]
Posted by David Pinto at 1:40 pm | History, Stadiums | Permalink | 3 Comments
January 28, 2011
Swapping Thirds?
U.S.S Mariner likes the idea of the Athletics sending Kevin Kouzmanoff to the Mariners for Chone Figgins. Kouzmanoff has been extremely consistent throughout his career in terms of value produced. You might get a great season out of Chone, but you might get a horrible one, too. If the M’s have a chance to unload […]
Posted by David Pinto at 12:53 pm | Trades | Permalink | 2 Comments
January 28, 2011
DeJesus on a Line
At Baseball Analytics, I look at how David DeJesus‘s line drive rates contribute to his clutch hitting.
Posted by David Pinto at 12:27 pm | Players | Permalink | No Comments
January 28, 2011
Retiring Numbers
The Twins will retire Bert Blyleven’s number. Why did it take so long? Unlike the Hall of Fame vote, the Twins should have realized Bert was one of their great pitchers. They retired the number of Kent Hrbek, who did not make the Hall of Fame. Maybe if the Twins had retired Bert’s number, he […]
Posted by David Pinto at 11:06 am | All-Time Greats, Pitchers | Permalink | No Comments
January 28, 2011
Thai-ing One On
Brian Wilson had a lot of fun in Thailand. I wonder if George Lopez thought he was getting a Beach Boy? 🙂
Posted by David Pinto at 10:48 am | Pitchers | Permalink | 1 Comment
January 28, 2011
Getting Ahead of the Scandal
Adam Kennedy is trying to get ahead of his DUI arrest: In a phone interview with The Associated Press on Thursday afternoon, Kennedy said he was leaving dinner with some friends around 8 p.m. on Wednesday night. He said he was originally pulled over for speeding, which turned into a DUI arrest. Kennedy said he […]
Posted by David Pinto at 8:12 am | Crime | Permalink | No Comments