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MLB General Discussion (Official Thread)

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Asdrubal Cabrera signs with the Texas Rangers

Craig Calcaterra
,
NBC Sports•January 22, 2019


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Ken Rosenthal reports that the Texas Rangers have signed infielder Asdrubal Cabrera to a one-year deal, pending a physical. He’ll be paid $3.5 million, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN. Rosenthal reports that Cabrera will primarily play third base, replacing Adrian Beltre, who has retired.

It’s a fairly low price given that Cabrera hit 23 homers and posted a line of .262/.316/.458 (112 OPS+) between the Mets and Phillies last season but, as is the case with so many other veteran free agents, there did not appear to be much of a market developing for his services. He’ll at least get a lot of playing time in Texas, it would seem.

https://sports.yahoo.com/asdrubal-cabrera-signs-texas-rangers-171521637.html
 
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Mariano Rivera, Roy Halladay, Edgar Martinez and Mike Mussina elected to Hall of Fame

Mariano Rivera makes history in leading 2019 Hall of Fame class



Four new Hall of Famers are headed to Cooperstown, including the first ever unanimous choice.





Martinez also earned 85.4 percent, ending a polarizing candidacy for the former Seattle Mariners designated hitter that took until his 10th and final year on the ballot.

Mussina’s slow climb toward 75 percent finally reached the end, with 76.7 percent in his sixth year on the ballot. The ex-Yankees and Orioles pitcher had career stats that compared favorably to Halladay, so their inclusion together makes sense.

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Mariano Rivera, Roy Halladay, Edgar Martinez and Mike Mussina were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on Tuesday. (Getty Images)

• Clemens earned 59.5 percent after 57.3 percent last year.
• Schilling rebounded in a big way, jumping from 51.2 percent in 2017 to 60.9 percent in 2018." data-reactid="35" style="margin-bottom: 1em;">• Bonds finished at 59.1 percent after last year’s 56.4 percent.
• Clemens earned 59.5 percent after 57.3 percent last year.
• Schilling rebounded in a big way, jumping from 51.2 percent in 2017 to 60.9 percent in 2018.

Larry Walker, who will now enter his 10th and final year on the ballot, was the next highest vote-getter at 54.6 percent. He’ll be looking for an Edgar Martinez/Tim Raines-like final-year bump in 2020 to get into the Hall.

Five percent of the vote is needed to stay on the ballot, which inevitably means some big names fall off each year by those means or by their time running out. Among the notables now off the ballot: Fred McGriff (39.8 percent, final year), Lance Berkman (1.2, first year), Miguel Tejada (1.2, first year) and Roy Oswalt (0.9, first year).

https://sports.yahoo.com/mariano-ri...mike-mussina-elected-hall-fame-232441984.html
 
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Jaxbuck said:
I'm all for Mariano being a unanimous vote but how exactly in the hell was Ken Griffey Jr not the first unanimous vote?

Rhetorical question. Answer is: sportswriters are some of the dumbest human beings god ever put on this earth.
Click to expand...

Or Ripken or Gwynn or Aaron or....there were several others who should have been (including Babe Ruth himself). Rivera getting it is going to result in another Skankees slobberfest.

Mussina finally gets in - and if he goes in as a Skankee I'm done with MLB. His best years by far were with the Orioles.
 
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Instead of declaring war on baseball, here's how to help fix the game


If middle age is good for anything, it is the comfort that today’s crisis will probably be tomorrow’s perfectly pleasant bowl of soup and, afterward, maybe a brisk walk. But not too brisk.

The crisis today is about baseball, the game and the industry, and what to do about it. Hold the soup. Because it’ll be tomorrow’s crisis too. And the next day’s.

No matter how much you love baseball. No matter how truly you believe baseball could be anything but lovable. The issue, as a person in the game recently observed, is, “The business of baseball is damaging the game of baseball,” which is less a new assessment than a newly unarguable one.

You don’t have to be pro-player, pro-owner, even pro-baseball to see that the greater evil here is complacency. Five-year plans are the new wait-til-next-years. Prospect rankings are the new standings. Just enough is plenty in some places, extravagant in the rest.

The game used to fall asleep trying to think of ways to beat the Yankees.

Now it has Star Wars night.

What we have are too many teams that don’t want the best players, who then, at some point, will play a game that has become less watchable.

These two concepts – a tangle of tanking and/or otherwise non-competitive teams, a less compelling brand of baseball – are both related and not.

First, bad teams aren’t great theater, even when they’re prettied up and sold as the future, even when you the fan is encouraged to “be a part of tomorrow” or however it’s framed today. Tickets cost the same. Parking costs the same. So do the three beers required to convince yourself you’re witnessing something bigger than an owner trading on your prior commitments to the team store’s jersey rack.

Second, the baseball is, I don’t know, different. Some call it boring. I tend toward, “Takes some getting used to.” Still others believe it’s better than ever, though apparently not enough of that crowd is going to the games. Attendance has dipped. Fortunately for baseball and its regional networks, plenty like to watch on television and engage on other platforms still, so mostly everybody’s getting paid still, including the men who decide how much (or whether) to pay the players and, therefore, how good their teams are going to be. Which, too often lately, is not very.......


https://sports.yahoo.com/instead-declaring-war-baseball-heres-help-fix-game-011032233.html
 
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Arenado, Rockies agree at $26M, most ever for arb eligible

PAT GRAHAM (AP Sports Writer)
The Associated PressJan 31, 2019, 10:38 PM


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FILE - In this Sept. 12, 2018, file photo, Colorado Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado throws to first base to put out Arizona Diamondbacks' A.J. Pollock in the first inning of a baseball game in Denver. AL MVP Mookie Betts, NL Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom and major league home run champion Khris Davis reached high-priced one-year deals to avoid salary arbitration, while Arenado and pitchers Gerrit Cole, Luis Severino and Aaron Nola failed to reach agreements and for now appeared headed to hearings. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)


''It's a great number. Very happy,'' Arenado wrote in a message to The Associated Press.

He and his side met with Rockies owner Dick Monfort and general manager Jeff Bridich to hammer out the historic deal.


''Means a lot, we had good dialogue,'' Arenado said. ''Very honest, very straight forward. Everyone has tough skin and sometimes you have to in business and I realized that firsthand. Was great.''

One short-term solution figured out.

On deck, perhaps another of the longer term variety.

Arenado becomes eligible for free agency after the 2019 season and figures to be the top player on the market next offseason.


https://sports.yahoo.com/news/arenado-rockies-agree-26m-most-ever-arb-eligible-003253837--mlb.html
 
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Wade Miley, Astros agree to $4.5 million, 1-year deal

The Associated PressJan 31, 2019, 8:05 PM

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Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Wade Miley throws during the first inning of Game 6 of the National League Championship Series baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers Friday, Oct. 19, 2018, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Miley could earn an additional $500,000 in performance bonuses. Miley already has passed the physical needed to finalize the agreement, but the deal was not immediately announced by the Astros on Thursday.


Dallas Keuchel became a free agent after the World Series and remains unsigned.


He agreed to a minor league contract in mid-February, made three starts at Double-A Biloxi, then joined the Brewers in early May. He went on the disabled list with a strained oblique after just two starts and did not return to the Brewers until July 12.


Miley earned $2,743,011 last year, which included a prorated share of his $2.5 million salary and $700,000 in performance bonuses based on innings and starts.

An eight-year major league veteran who was an All-Star in 2012, Miley is 71-76 with a 4.26 ERA. He also has pitched for Arizona (2011-14), Boston (2015), Seattle (2016) and Baltimore (2016-17).

https://sports.yahoo.com/news/wade-miley-astros-agree-4-5-million-1-005356452--mlb.html
 
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Rangers' new stadium will have synthetic turf, not grass

The Associated PressJan 31, 2019, 1:23 PM


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FILe - In this April 7, 2018, file photo, fans look over the construction site of the new Texas Rangers ballpark from Globe Life Field prior to a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays in Arlington, Texas. The new ballpark. which is expected to open in 2020, will use specially designed synthetic playing surface rather than grass in their new retractable-roof stadium. (AP Photo/Michael Ainsworth, File)


Toronto's Rogers Centre, which opened in 1989, and Tampa Bay's Tropicana Field, where then then-Devil Rays started play in 1998, have always had artificial surfaces.


MLB has a high of 10 artificial surfaces, in 1977-78 and again from 1982-94. There have not been four since 2004, the last season before the Montreal Expos left Olympic Stadium for Washington, D.C., and became the Nationals.

The Rangers' current stadium, Globe Life Park, has had grass since it opened in 1994. The new ballpark is being built across the street.

Texas said Thursday the decision was made after almost two years of research regarding player safety, team performance and fan experience.

Shaw Sports Turf, which will provide the synthetic turf field, used Globe Life Park's current grass field as one of the benchmarks for an ongoing playability study. The company is also part of a kinesiology study with Auburn to research how players react on certain surfaces and says it will use that data to tune systems for player safety and optimal performance.

https://sports.yahoo.com/news/rangers-stadium-synthetic-turf-not-grass-181518717--mlb.html
 
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https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2019/02/phillies-to-acquire-j-t-realmuto.html

One of the winter’s biggest storylines has finally drawn to a close, as the Phillies and Marlins have agreed to a deal that will send star catcher J.T. Realmuto to Philadelphia, according to Jim Bowden of The Athletic (Twitter links). A four-player package will go to Miami in return, headlined by young backstop Jorge Alfaro and top pitching prospect Sixto Sanchez. Southpaw Will Stewart is one of the other pieces in the deal. The Marlins also acquire an international signing slot, per ESPN.com’s Jeff Passan (via Twitter).
Click to expand...
 
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I like some of these possible rule changes that might take effect in 2020. Time to speed up the game if you ask me. The entire article is at
https://www.concordmonitor.com/3-ba...deadline-DH-changes-proposed-23315760?src=rss

Management proposed that a team not be allowed to bring in a reliever until the previous pitcher has faced three batters or an inning ends. There were 1,145 one-batter outings last season, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, up from 1,119 the previous year but down from 1,182 in 2016. The change would have an impact on the use of “openers” for a few batters, a move pioneered by Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash
as an Indians fan I am tired of Francona using 7:biggrin: pitchers in one inning
A limit of six mound visits without pitching changes began last season, and management wants to lower that to four this season and three in 2020.
see Francona
Management again has proposed a pitch clock, and the union countered with limitations on its use.
see Francona
Many have criticized the roster rules, which generally allow a team 25 active players through Aug. 31 and then 40 until the end of the season. Management proposed allowing a 26-man roster, including a 12-pitcher maximum, through Aug. 31, and then up to 28 for the rest of the season.
it is getting so crowded in the dugouts after September 1 guys can hardly move plus managers have no incentive to use their best players if they are not going to win their division
Players are generally amenable to management’s proposal to start the 10th and subsequent innings of spring training games and the All-Star Game with a runner on second, although in the All-Star Game they want a player who already has left the game to be eligible to be one of those runners.
not sure about this one but after 10-11 innings it does start getting a little bit late
 
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