For Orioles, let history be your guide, hire a general manager first – The Athletic

It’s tough to grade Duquette. Peter Angelos wasn’t the kind of owner who gives his GM any real autonomy.

The Duquette era was always about making marginal moves and hoping they turned into gold under Showalter’s direction–and in fairness, sometimes they did. But a lot of this team was built on the structure of what came before — both the 2012 and 2014 teams were stocked with guys acquired by Andy MacPhail, Duquette’s predecessor — and eventually when those guys started getting long in ...

Texas Rangers: Experience, player development or a peer?: Here’s what Rangers GM Jon Daniels is seeking in his managerial soulmate | SportsDay

They are using a wide net.

Ignite the Hot Stove: A complete list of MLB free agents

With the World Series in the books, the Hot Stove is about to get switched on for the winter.

Baseball’s free-agency period begins this weekend, and there are a whole bunch of players out there for teams looking to make an upgrade or two this offseason. The list includes a few of the game’s biggest stars, including Bryce Harper and Manny Machado, who could fetch two of the biggest contracts in baseball history.

Here’s a list of the game’s free agents, guys who could end up at a stadium near ...

Moose is loose from Brewers; Soria also elects free agency

MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee Brewers third baseman Mike Moustakas is becoming a free agent again, and so is reliever Joakim Soria.

In addition, the Brewers exercised a $3,175,000 option on All-Star right-hander Jeremy Jeffress, who would have been eligible for salary arbitration if it had been declined.

Moustakas declined a $15 million mutual option Tuesday.

So, will he have any better luck than he did last year?

MLB Rumors: Giants Interested in Farhan Zaidi for President of Baseball Ops.

The San Francisco Giants have reportedly expanded their search for a president of baseball operations to their archrivals.

According to Jon Morosi of MLB Network, San Francisco is “interested” in Los Angeles Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi for the role. While Morosi cautioned it is “unclear if the scenario is viable,” he noted the interest could be the reason San Francisco’s search has been somewhat slow.

This comes after Bruce Levine of 670 The Score reported the Giants interviewed ...

Agent Jeff Berry expects J.T. Realmuto to be traded by spring training

So, what third-rate prospects will the Yankees give up for Realmuto?

As expected, Giants exercise options on Madison Bumgarner, Pablo Sandoval

In moves that were expected, the Giants on Monday exercised their 2019 contract options on pitcher Madison Bumgarner and infielder Pablo Sandoval.

Bumgarner will earn at least $12 million in the final year of the long-term deal he signed in 2012. That is the listed salary, but it likely has grown some through escalators based on performance milestones.

The Giants again will pay Sandoval the major-league minimum, around $545,000, in the final year of the five-year deal he signed with Boston ...

In early World Series odds for 2019, Tigers near the bottom

The Boston Red Sox exercised the contract option for ace starter Chris Sale on Tuesday, their first offseason move as 2018 World Series champions.

They’re also favorites to do it again.

Las Vegas says the Red Sox have the best odds to win the 2019 World Series. Bovada puts the Sox at 13:2, just above the Houston Astros (7:1), Los Angeles Dodgers (8:1) and New York Yankees (8:1).

Because it is never too early to speculate on these matters….

Gerardo Parra’s $12.5 million option declined by Rockies

Truth be told, the fact that he had an option that big might be the bigger surprise….

Ratings for Red Sox-Dodgers World Series down 23 percent from 2017

A World Series featuring the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers was expected to pull in major ratings numbers for Fox, but it didn’t turn out that way.

According to Variety, an average of 14.3 million viewers watched over five World Series games, a 23 percent drop from the 18.7 million that watched the 2017 World Series. And 2018’s numbers are a staggering 38 percent decrease from the 2016 World Series, which averaged 22.9 million viewers and was the most watched since series 2005. Out ...

MLB hot stove: Should Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw opt out of his contract and test free agency?

It has been two days since Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers fell to the Red Sox in the 2018 World Series. The Dodgers have now lost back-to-back World Series and Kershaw has allowed 16 runs in 26 2/3 career innings in the Fall Classic. Not great.

Offseason deadlines come quickly, so although the World Series just ended, Kershaw has to make an important contract decision this week. Specifically, he has to decide whether to opt out of the remaining two years and $65 million on his contract. The ...

Red Sox’ Dave Dombrowski basks in culmination of hard work | Boston Herald

“It’s hard to win,” Dombrowski said. “I think we were talking about it, seven out of the last eight years, been in the postseason and won divisions, and never got the world championship. It just shows you how hard it is. A lot of good players, a lot of great players, and it’s just something special when it winds up happening. It’s hard to put into words. People spend so many hours working, and you fall short a lot of times, and sometimes all of a sudden it comes together for you and ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 10-30-2018

El Paso Herald, October 30, 1918:

To obtain baseball supplies for the soldiers in his brigade, the Rev. Fr. William Munster, of Pittsburg, Pa., chaplain and athletic director of an artillery regiment, rode 60 miles on a motorcycle at night recently.

A divisional baseball championship was slated to be settled when Fr. Munster discovered that the truck containing the balls, bats and other equipment was on the missing list.
...
Without saying a word to any of the soldiers he jumped on the ...

Fangraphs:Ring: The Mets, Brodie Van Wagenen, and When Agents Join Front Offices

Did the Mets Mets this one up?

In theory, if his clients on the Mets don’t sign off on the addition of Van Wagenen to the front office, they have a legal right to stop it — and they stand a good chance of winning whatever suit they file.

Under a case called Detroit Lions v. Argovitz, a breach of an agent’s fiduciary duty can actually result in rescission (a court undoing) of the acts that breached the duty. An agent’s fiduciary duty under Argovitz is multifaceted. First, the agent ...

Hochman: Cards’ new hitting coach Albert has modern-day approach | Benjamin Hochman | stltoday.com

Interesting hire.

Red Sox homer their way past Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers for World Series title – Orange County Register

Just listened to Bill Plunkett on with the Mad Dog. Dodgers fans are lucky neither of these two guys are running the Dodgers.

My favorite part of the interview was Russo asking, “Will the Dodgers, upstairs in their front office, will they recalculate a little bit, realizing that this interchangeable two-team match-up approach may not necessarily be the best way to go if you want to win the whole thing? Will this loss make them look at that?”

Plunkett replied, “I doubt it. I’ll put this ...

An overreliance on analytics did not determine the outcome of the World Series – The Athletic

Somewhere​ along the line, the word​ analytics​ became​ a boogeyman, ready to​ be blamed for​ all that​ ails baseball.​​ In this World Series in particular, there’s the idea that the Dodgers made too many decisions by the binder instead of the gut. It’s a weird idea.

“Throw away the numbers and let your eyes tell you everything you need to know,” said broadcaster John Smoltz during Game 5. Smoltz, in particular, has been talking about problems he sees in the sport ...

Why Steve Pearce’s heroics meant something more to his Boston sports-loving family | WEEI

Considering how the Red Sox had been infused in the Pearce family for more than 50 years, witnessing Pearce serve as the offensive hero for the newly-crowned World Series champs was the kind of punctuation few could have ever imagined. And the disbelief didn’t end with the family’s patriarch.

In among the Pearce family’s on-field celebration was Steve Jr.‘s younger brother, Chad. One look at his wallet allowed for a glimpse into the family’s passion for Boston sports, with “Patriots” ...

Fielding Bible - 2018 Winners

You can see the rest of the winners at the link.

Shortstop – Andrelton Simmons, Los Angeles Angels

Six straight Fielding Bible Awards says it all for Mr. Defense. That’s the most consecutive awards in the history of the awards; no one else has won more than four in a row. Simmons tied Nick Ahmed for the lead among shortstops with 21 Defensive Runs Saved. Simmons posted positive range numbers on balls hit to his left, right, and straight-on, doing so in all three in the same season for the ...

MLB’s crackdown on sign stealing has already begun

I can’t see how a catcher could chat with the pitcher.

MLB recognizes it is going to have to make a significant expenditure to come up with technology to counter at least some of the thievery, likely with either communication systems that would allow the catcher, pitcher and middle infielders to speak and hear each other — like what an NFL quarterback has in his helmet — or a watch that multiple players could look at to get what the signs are without the catcher having to put down fingers. ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 10-29-2018

An odd play from a “game played in New England” described in the Perth Amboy Evening News, October 29, 1918:

It was in the fifth inning, three runners on the bases and none out when a batter stepped to the plate. Right at his heels came the next player entitled to bat, who took a position just a step or two away from the batter’s box. The batter hit a sharp bounder directly at the pitcher and dashed for first base, while all the other runners raced around the bases toward home.

It appeared to ...

OTP 2018 October 29: Baseball team’s name makes a stink, takes off like a rocket

Meet the Madison-based Rocket City Trash Pandas.

Al.com reports the team held an event Saturday to unveil their new logo and start merchandise sales. They will begin playing in 2020.
“The name has gone viral,” said managing partner Ralph Nelson. Nelson told the newspaper they had already received merchandise requests from 30 countries around the world.

The team’s logo features a raccoon lifting off in a trash-can like rocket.

Price silences October critics while Kershaw gives more fuel to his

No two pitchers of this generation have carried more of a burden from their postseason travails than Kershaw and Price. The dissection of their performances and the myths that have risen from such autopsies have never been fair. There have been disappointments, to be sure. There also have been enough successes to suggest that either star lefty has some innate flaw that prevents them from succeeding in October is madness.

Nevertheless, the baggage that accumulates from such tales piles up over ...

Cora-nation! Rookie manager leads Red Sox to championship

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hard to believe now, all these wins later, but the Alex Cora Era in Boston began with a loss. A brutal one, in fact.

Opening day at Tropicana Field in late March, none of his late moves worked out as the bullpen blew a big lead in a 6-4 setback.

No fan in New England would admit it now — still, chances are some had already started to wonder whether he was the right guy for the Red Sox.

The full article lists all the first-time managers to win the World Series- without ...

Well-traveled Pearce finds a place _ as World Series MVP

LOS ANGELES — For a dozen years, Steve Pearce was on the move. From Pittsburgh to Houston to every single team in the AL East, just looking for a spot where he could stick.

He finally found his permanent place — in Red Sox lore.

The well-traveled Pearce wound up as the World Series MVP on Sunday night after hitting two home runs that sent Boston over the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 in Game 5.

A brief account of the career of the World Series MVP.

David Price set his postseason narrative on fire and buried the ashes in Los Angeles

You all know the David Price postseason narrative. If for some reason you need reminding, we’ve covered it before. The Price postseason narrative is now dead in the ground. The monkey is off his back, all the pages that made up the narrative have been set on fire, and even Price’s loudest haters are ready to help discard the evidence of it ever existing if it means they can pretend they never had a doubt in the world about the Boston ace.

Price didn’t just pitch in two World Series games ...

Time running out for Dodgers after another World Series loss

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Major League Baseball’s World Series trophy was lifted triumphantly at Dodger Stadium for the second straight year on Sunday, but again the home team failed to get their hands on it.

Boston blasted their way to a 4-1 best-of-seven series victory this time around, while last year it was the Houston Astros breaking Los Angeles’ hearts in a Game 7 decider.

Dodgers’ losing pitcher Clayton Kershaw told reporters that the experience of losing out to Houston last year did not ...

World Series 2018: Dodgers manager Dave Roberts booed before Game 5

Dave Roberts did not receive a warm reception before Game 5 of the World Series.

Los Angeles fans booed the Dodgers manager during pregame introductions Sunday, according to multiple reports. The Dodgers entered the matchup trailing the Red Sox 3-1 in the series.

The harsh reaction came one day after some questioned Roberts’ decision to remove starting pitcher Rich Hill with one out in the seventh inning in Game 4. The Dodgers were winning 4-0 at the time but their bullpen failed to hold the ...

Bryce Harper free agency rumors: Scott Boras says there’s already a done deal in place

This is an odd story.

World Series Game 4: The speech that sparked the Red Sox comeback

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