Tony Jackson: Some insight into BBWAA postseason awards voting

King #######, “Bleacher Report, of all things”...and other goodies from Jackson.

The voting for these awards is the same now that it always has been. The only thing that has changed is the available pool of voters. And I’m not being critical of the people who are in that pool. It isn’t their fault their outlets don’t have the money to send them on the road. But there was a time, and it wasn’t that long ago — it was still going on when I began covering ball in 1995 — when there were ...

Big Bad Baseball: MVP Prediction

Don Malcolm reveals who he thinks the writers are likely to pick based on past outcomes.

The nickel tour of what the Ptolemaic MVP is about is as follows: two-month snapshots of offensive data are captured, ranking points assigned to three counting stats (R, HR, RBI) and four rate stats (BA, OBP, SLG, OPS)....

What we have in the current Ptolemaic MVP method is something that is more likely to capture the thinking process of the BBWAA (though this year, we suspect it will be less accurate in ...

AJC: Bookman: To Braves, stadium deal is a cash cow mooing to be milked

When the Braves look at Cobb County, they see an opportunity to do what the Marlins and Twins ownership did. They see a chance to at least double the value of their $629 million franchise, and do so largely on the taxpayers’ dole. So of course they’re jumping at it. In fact, once you see the numbers out of Miami and Minnesota, it becomes a lot easier to believe Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed when he says that he could not have made a competitive offer to keep the Braves at “ancient, decrepit” Turner ...

Murray Chass On Baseball: PREFERING War to WAR

War to WAR…how Sly.

If I am guilty, as charged, with demonstrating disdain for the stats patrol (notice I didn’t say geeks or nerds), I blame their arrogance for prompting such feeling.

My dictionary defines arrogance as “disposed to making claims to unwarranted importance,” and that describes the vast majority of statistic zealots who inundate me with critical e-mail.

There are no two ways with the stats patrol. It’s either their way or no way. No method other than theirs can be ...

Scott Boras says Mets ‘need more astronauts’

Guess they could always bring Jose Jimenez into camp…

Meeting with a pack of reporters in the lobby of the resort hotel, Boras suddenly became the Prince of Puns when asked about the Mets.

“The Mets are like NASA,” the high-powered agent said. “They have big rockets, a lot of platforms and very few astronauts. Astronauts are hard to find. They’ve got one guy with the Wright Stuff and a lot of Arm-strongs but they need more astronauts.

Boras, of course, was referring to third baseman David ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 11-14-2013

Washington Herald, November 14, 1913:

Now and then a winter baseball story has news in it, but such mavericks are not recognized by the profession and the writer is likely to lose his standing in the union. Baron Munchausen was a considerable liar, but he was a mere bush leaguer compared to the scribe who writes baseball all winter. The favorite pastime of said scribes is trading Cobb, Speaker, and Chase, and appointing new managers for the Cubs and Sox. Their real work, though, is getting by. ...

RAB: Heyman: Hal, Jeter have spoken about the Yankees’ needs at shortstop

Via Jon Heyman: Hal Steinbrenner has spoken to Derek Jeter and explained to him the Yankees will look for a starting shortstop this winter in the wake of his injury-riddled season. The Cap’n has not spoken publicly since signing his new one-year, $12M contract, but Heyman says he understands what the team is doing and is okay with it. I’ve always assumed Derek Jeter will play shortstop for the Yankees until Derek Jeter says it’s time for Derek Jeter to stop playing shortstop for the ...

BtBS: Grosnick: The end of ERA

Or as Billy Sample said on FB’s Baseball Freaks group…“ERA grossly overrated” (okay…so it was about Jack Morris)

As far as pitching statistics go, it’s hard to think of one that has as much acceptance on both sides of the traditional / sabermetric coin as ERA. Maybe strikeouts have a little more grip, but whether you’re a writer for Beyond the Box Score, or a beat reporter for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, you probably use ERA in some form to talk about how effective a pitcher has been.

And ...

Hoornstra: Seeing was believing: White Sox’s Sale was AL’s best pitcher

JP Hoornstra explains his Cy Young vote for Chris Sale.

Numbers have taken a lot of heat these days. #Killthewin is an actual, recognizable hashtag among advocates of advanced baseball metrics (not murderous losers). I’m more egalitarian than murderous when it comes to numbers, but I wanted to know if there was a reliable statistic that confirmed that Chris Sale and Yu Darvish were the two best pitchers in the AL this season. If they weren’t, I would change my vote.

...At some point on ...

Deadspin: We’d Like to Buy Your Hall of Fame Vote

Joe Borowski’s best chance for a vote.

Clayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer win 2013 Cy Young Awards | MLB.com: News

Not unexpected.

A’s sign Nick Punto for 1/3M

Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports reports that Punto will get $2.75 million for 2014 and has a $2.75 million vesting option or a $250,000 buyout for 2015, so it’s officially a one-year, $3 million deal.

At 3M, I’m not sure that scrappiness is really the new market inefficiency.

HBT/Posnanski: Pete Rose has paid his debt. Let him back into the game

Joe Pos trolls us all…..

And — now what? Of course, the rule states very clearly what happens when you bet on a game you’re involved with: You “shall be declared permanently ineligible.” By the way, you will notice the rule does not say anything at all about a “lifetime ban.” The word “lifetime” does not appear at all in the entirety of Rule 21. I’ve heard people say that Rose should only be eligible for the Hall of Fame after he dies (thus serving a lifetime ban) but ...

Alex Rodriguez, mystery brunette hit women’s restroom at Miami hotel - NY Daily News

Those bathroom signs can be so confusing.

THT: Jaffe: 25th anniversary: Rob Neyer writes a letter

Box Scores Tops: The Letter.

Today marks a rather strange anniversary. For most of the baseball world, it doesn’t mean a thing. It had nothing to do with any game being played. (Who plays games in November anyway?) It wasn’t any transaction or front officer maneuvering.

It was one guy who was underemployed writing a letter to another guy who was self-employed. And they all lived happily ever after.

On Nov. 13, 1988, a young man who had just dropped out of college and didn’t know what ...

Boston Red Sox might be willing to overpay free-agent catcher Carlos Ruiz - FOX Sports on MSN

I am not a huge fan of Ruiz but he very well might be a decent stop gap for the Red Sox.

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 11-13-2013

Pittsburgh Press, November 13, 1913:

An Australian paper, speaking of the coming visit of the Giants and White Sox world touring baseball teams, says: “The tour should give a much to be desired fillip to the game here by enabling local players to witness the skill displayed by some of the best players in America. It is to be hoped as a result of the tour that in due course strong combinations of Australian and other British players will visit America to take part in international games.”

100 ...

Fitch: When Great Isn’t Good Enough

Create distinction! And Joey Votto certainly does that.

Joey Votto is no god. He will, however, be making an ungodly sum of money shortly playing baseball for the Cincinnati Reds. But, there are more than expectations and even money at play here. Unlike Ted Williams, Joey MVP has the added burden of standing at a historical fork in the road where Old School Avenue and Advanced Metrics Boulevard collide.

Are the Reds headed down the road too often traveled? Do you even care? Consider this ...

Bill Madden: Tainted bats Cruz and Paralta make sense for Mets

Taking a break from swinging through his Hudson-DeLange Orchestra box set, Madden files…

But if he doesn’t get Granderson, where might Alderson go for the bats he needs? I say he should think Biogenesis.

After all, Alderson has never seemed to have a problem with drug-tainted players, going all the way back to his days in Oakland when, whether he knew it or not, the Bash Brothers, Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire, were alleged to have been shooting up steroids in the bathroom stalls of the ...

Blue Jays’ Mark DeRosa announces his retirement

As his 16th big-league season drew to a close, Mark DeRosa sounded like he might go for 17.

And the Toronto Blue Jays were ready to bring him back, picking up his US$750,000 option for 2014. But even though he agreed to the club option when he signed his Toronto contract, in the end he decided he was unwilling to play again for that salary – the same amount he was paid in 2013.

On Tuesday, the Blue Jays announced that the veteran utility player had decided to retire.

DeRosa spent one year ...

ShutDownInning/Kelly: Twice: Darvish Flirts with History

Nice detailed analysis of the differences between Yu Darvish at his best and at his worst:

In looking further at his slider, during the two best starts, it was extraordinarily effective. The table below illustrates the effectiveness of his slider during the April 2 and August 12 starts.

Compare that table to the same information from the bad starts on July 6 and September 4, and it becomes clear that when Yu’s slider is off, hitters are jumping on it.

Another interesting ...

Schoenfield: The Hall of Fame mess gets messier

That gets to the bigger mess: What is the Hall of Fame? Is it a place to honor the best players? The most famous players? Those—players, executives, managers—who had the biggest impact on the game’s history? I suspect the BBWAA, if polled as a group, would say it’s trying to elect the best players, not just the most famous ones, although in reality it’s some intricate combination of the two.

With its tough threshold for election and continued division on how to handle PEDs, the BBWAA elected ...

Coppock: Are The White Sox Still In Business?

No Coppocky for Kitty (Skip Steps 1 2 & 3)

Who the hell runs your media relations anyways? Richie Incognito?

Why in the name of “Shoeless” Joe Jackson would you announce the arrival of Jose Abreu on the same day the a little known player named Derrick Rose and the Bulls opened up their regular season in South Florida against the James gang? You talk about the wrong pitch on the wrong day. You would have been better off having Abreu pose in his new jersey this past Monday when the Bears ...

Yankees to play exhibition games in Panama to honor Mariano Rivera

I think we’re reaching the point where “honoring” turns into “stalking…”

Terry Francona of Cleveland Indians, Clint Hurdle of Pittsburgh Pirates honored as top managers - ESPN

Francona and Hurdle win Manager of the Year.

Strat-O-Celebrity Q & A with Bob Costas

Question: When did you first start playing Strat-O-Matic? Who introduced you to the game?

Bob Costas: 1964 and I was 12 years old. Introduced to the game by my 14 year old cousin.

Q: All-time favorite card to play with? Favorite season to replay?

Bob Costas:  My all-time favorite card was a 1966 Gary Geiger. He hit under 200 that year for the Atlanta Braves, but he did have a half dozen or so home runs in only about 100 at bats. So, he had a fairly prominent home run possibility on his ...

Atlanta Magazine: The Other 284 Days

From June of 2013, but relevant this week…

Report: Phillies signing Marlon Byrd to two-year deal

A Marlon Anderson signing cannot be too far off.

The Phillies are reportedly about to sign Pirates outfielder Marlon Byrd, according to 94 WIP.

Byrd, originally drafted by the Phillies, made his big league debut with them in 2002. After several bottoming out years, Byrd hit .291 this season with an .847 OPS at 35 years old.

In late August, the Mets were about to hold Marlon Byrd t-shirt night, in appreciation of the 35-year-old slugger’s somewhat surprising offensive output on the year. ...

SB Nation Winter Meetings Simulation

Sorry to self-link, but a few people had expressed interest in seeing how this turned out. I took 30 fans, made them the GM of their respective team, and had them negotiate trades with each other, and free agent contracts with me. After one week, this is the end result.

I know the first instinct is to say, “that trade/signing is ridiculous!” Which is of course, our response to most real transactions. But the whole point of this exercise was that I was tired of fans saying “player X won’t get ...

Bunch: Atlanta’s Turner Field Is Dying—And American Sanity Is Dying With It

There’s so much else that it’s hard to know where to begin. There’s the fact that the Braves are leaving a ballpark served by mass transit for one that would be located at one of the most traffic-congested intersections (I-75 and I-285) in America, pumping tons of unnecessary carbon pollution into the air. The fact that this is just slightly less egregious than what’s happening with Atlanta’s also pretty new, also fully functional football stadium the Georgia Done (which opened way back in… ...