Orioles third base/infielders coach Willie Randolph acknowledged he was “a little disappointed” when he learned Thursday night in a telephone conversation with Orioles manager Buck Showalter that he would not be back with the club next season, “but I am always going to move forward.”
...Not renewing Randolph did not come as a surprise to club observers – and, in fact, was expected to be the primary change to Showalter’s coaching staff this ...
Bodog.net has posted odds on who will be the next Red Sox manager and the field is led by former Diamondbacks skipper A.J. Hinch, followed closely by ex-Mets manager Bobby Valentine.
The latest Bodog odds
A.J. Hinch—5:2
Bobby Valentine—3:1
Joe Torre—4:1
Pete Mackanin—5:1
Dave Martinez—11:2
Ryne Sandberg—6:1
Alan Trammell—15:2
This is just nutty. Joe Torre is more likely to agree to manage an IGA in Houghton, Michigan, than he is to take the reins of the Red Sox. ...Read More...
I figured maybe I can help to lighten up the mood by introducing some commentary that I get to hear during the Brewers playoff games from Russian announcers.
I happen to reside in Armenia and my satellite channel is ESPN America, which transmits games over the territory of the former Soviet Union. Thus, the announcers are Russian, commenting on the game in Russian for all the people who happen to tune in for these games in the former Soviet republics.
With all that said, here’s the countdown… ...Read More...
...the Yankees have informed their minor league affiliates in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Tampa, and Staten Island that they want them to drop “Yankees” as their nickname. “There’s only one team they want as the Yankees,” said Jim Timlin, chairman of the Lackawanna County Stadium Authority board in Northeast Pennsylvania. “And they live in the Bronx.”
“It was a recommendation,” added Timlin. “We don’t have to listen to them. But it would be a good idea to go along with them. ...
Center fielder Curtis Granderson and second baseman Robinson Cano, two of the Bronx Bombers who rank among baseball’s top run producers, are on the roster that will play five games against the Chinese Taipei national team.
....
Another major offensive threat who has tentatively agreed to join the team—subject to how he feels after participating in the postseason—is Detroit first baseman Miguel Cabrera, this year’s AL batting champion with a .344 average.
I hear the OccupyChi people are now forming an OccupyJackass group.
“It’s tougher than people think, being a one percenter,” Adam Dunn told us this morning. “For starters, you gotta figure out what to do with all that dough, which is stressful.”
The White Sox designated hitter is a bona fide one percenter, and we’re not talking about his batting average. Dunn made $14 million this season, and his contract guarantees him three more years at that rate. “But that’s not net, it’s whachacallit,” ...
Rockies rookie pitcher Drew Pomeranz was arrested early this morning in Oxford, Miss. and charged with disturbing the peace.
Pomeranz, a left-hander who was considered the centerpiece of the Ubaldo Jimenez trade, was arrested at 1:25 a.m. after leaving a bar with friends, according to the Oxford (Miss.) Eagle. He was released on cash bond at 4:40 a.m.
The Rockies issued a statement this afternoon, saying they were aware of the “unfortunate incident” involving Pomeranz.
During an appearance on CBS Radio in Boston this afternoon Red Sox owner John Henry explained that he “personally opposed” the team’s decision to sign free agent Carl Crawford to a seven-year, $142 million contract last offseason.
Henry said that he ultimately deferred to general manager Theo Epstein and the front office decision-makers…
at the time of the Crawford signing Epstein did say that he had to talk ownership into the move and Henry also said during the same interview today ...
Part One here (although I’m wondering, given this article, why we needed a “5 oldest vs. 5 youngest” article at all.)
Rather than simply looking at the youngest and oldest players in each draft year, I’ve taken all 846 players in the draft study and separated them by age into five roughly equal bins: Very Young, Young, Average, Old, and Very Old. I then calculated the combined expected value of the players in each bin based on where they were drafted and the combined Discounted WARP that they ...
Tired of all the endless speculation about Theo Epstein and what compensation the Cubs will owe the Red Sox for him? Now you can make up your own!
I like interaction. Except with the people at Time-Warner, who I call to complain that my 56 dBmV upstream power level is too high and they ask me if my modem is on and plugged in.
Hicks failed to buy a World Series, but he nearly went broke trying. Guess what happened when he started belatedly slashing expenses in a vain attempt to prevent the team from going under? Jon Daniels, who was 28 when he became the Rangers’ general manager, had the chance to take a different, more cost-effective approach . He restocked the team’s depleted farm system, refocused on pitching and made a few big trades that created the nucleus of the team that is now on the brink of its second ...
Jerry Dipoto on the fluid list? Mr. Blameshifter now with orange and black glove?!
Here’s what I know: Diamondbacks executive Jerry Dipoto will interview with the Orioles.
...It’s possible that the interview will take place Monday. The date also is fluid. But the important point here is that Dipoto is a leading candidate and the Diamondbacks granted permission for the Orioles to contact him.
The Orioles don’t want a whiz kid who still gets carded in bars, and they don’t want a mid-60s ...
Gleeman informs the sensible-sweater soiree at MinnPost about a recent athlete of note.
Remember when Mark Lemke was terrorizing the Twins with a .417 batting average in the 1991 World Series? Or how about when Adam Kennedy knocked the Twins out of the 2002 ALCS with a three-homer Game 5? Or what about last October, when Cody Ross’ heroics propelled the Giants to a championship?
None of those guys were more than role players before their postseason breakouts, and none of those guys were more ...
Well they need some way to pay Vernon Wells’ contract.
However, Fox and the Angels have had dialogue about a new deal for an extended period of time, according to parties familiar with the conversations but not authorized to discuss them. No deal is imminent, the parties said.
With Fox losing the Lakers and potentially losing the Dodgers, the Angels have the leverage to command a deal in excess of the 20-year, $1.6-billion contract to which Fox and the Rangers agreed last year.
Stubbornly, baseball again practices an offensive theory that I would change without blinking. The old “automatic strike” pitch is what we identify with when a hitter has a 3-0 count. When I played for Terry Francona in Philadelphia, each hitter had the “Green” Light to swing away on any 3-0 count. The only reason a hitter would take there is if the “must take” sign was put on or if the hitter was not comfortable swinging at that particular 3-0 ...
But after solo homers put St. Louis up 2-0 through three innings Thursday, the Cardinals couldn’t put anything together. They were 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position and failed twice to get a man home from third with less than two outs.
Wolf baffled them with a changeup clocked consistently around 65 mph.
‘‘We had a couple of chances to add a run and Wolf made outstanding pitches,’’ Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. ‘‘These are productive guys. He just made really good pitches.’‘
But Verlander, after an efficient, 10-pitch seventh, was in no mood for conversation. The Tigers, trailing three games to one, had a seemingly comfortable 6-2 lead in Game 5 of the ALCS. But Verlander knew that the Tigers’ pitching staff, in the words of Leyland, was down to, “Verlander and Verlander and Verlander . . . and maybe (Phil) Coke.”
“I didn’t even talk to, ‘Skip,’ I didn’t even look at him,” Verlander told me in the postgame interview on FOX after the Tigers’ 7-5 ...
Sweep away the chicken bones, recycle the beer cans and fire up the treadmill. Bid adieu to Tito and Theo, make way for Ben Cherington and a TBA manager, relocate John Lackey in the witness protection program, and tell the “team sources” in the executive suite to put away the sharp knives and clean up the blood they’ve left behind.
The next time Sox players are invited onto John Henry’s yacht, it will be a victory cruise (headphones optional).
We know they’re looking at trading Lackey, but that’s going to be a tough pill to swallow.
I don’t know that they have a choice. I can’t envision a scenario where he’s back here.
Who’s more disappointing: the leader, Josh Beckett or the follower, Jon Lester?
That’s the one that I think probably makes me bend over and double-clutch more than anything. I wanted so bad to believe that that September late-season swoon by him was just something ...
And I thought once seeing John Wockenfuss trip over the 2B bag was the high point of clogging up the DH spot.
Would that lead the Yankees to Fielder? The potential of the lineup would be tantalizing and, who knows? Maybe Fielder would actually hit in October as well as his father Cecil did with the Bombers in 1996
On the other hand, Cashman probably wouldn’t want to lock himself into still another long-term deal. And though Fielder could play first base at times to spell Mark Teixeira, the ...
Before what is conceded to be the largest crowd that ever witnessed a baseball game, the opening contest in the world’s series is now on, the gladiators of McGraw and Mack straining every effort to capture the initial game of the series and thus gain the advantage in the battle for honors.
“F———goat,” comedian and Cubs fan Jeff Garlin is saying, and I must admit that the quotes that follow are not as precise as I might like because it’s hard to take notes when Diet Coke is spurting out of your nose. “A goat? OK, let’s get something straight. It is not a curse to not want a goat at a baseball game, all right? That is not a curse… You know, this was a time when people dressed up. I mean nobody would let a goat into a game now, and people dress like pigs. Back then people wore suits ...
But you doctored the numbers! You admitted it right there!
This is, all modesty aside, quite possibly the most impressive and significant finding of my career. When it comes to the drafting of high school hitters, even slight differences in age matter. At least when it comes to high school hitters, young draft picks are a MASSIVE market inefficiency.
In The 1985 Bill James Abstract, James published the results of his study which showed that “The rate of return on players drafted out of ...
Baserunning Gain is a measure of how often a player advances the extra base, or is thrown out trying to do so, as compared with what would have been expected based on league averages. The top ten baserunners by this metric over the last three years combined are shown below.
Player Baserunning Gain (3-Year) Chase Utley +77 Elvis Andrus +76 Shane Victorino +64 Ben Zobrist +57 Ian Kinsler +51 Michael Bourn +50 Ryan Braun +50 ...
Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland just held his pregame session with the media. He discussed his lineup, the team’s health and the mood in the clubhouse.
Here are the highlights:
• On the lineup: “We got (Austin) Jackson, (Ryan) Raburn, (Miguel) Cabrera, (Victor) Martinez and (Delmon) Young, (Jhonny) Peralta, (Brandon) Inge, (Alex) Avila and (Ramon) Santiago.”
• On whether Jose Valverde is available: “He will not pitch ...
This is happening. Cashman likely will meet with Hal Steinbrenner in Tampa later this week or early next week to complete the deal.
Extend CC Sabathia’s contract...
What’s reasonable? How about keeping the current deal as is and then throwing on an additional two years and $52 million for 2016 and 2017? That matches Cliff Lee ‘s annual average value of $24 million…
Pick up the 2012 options on Robinson Cano ($14 million) and Nick Swisher ($10.25 million)...
