Hey, ump! Why’d you eject that player or manager?

An article about ejections without an Earl Weaver reference is woefully incomplete.

MLB Network’s Matt Yallof suffered a stroke

This awful news just popped up on my Twitter feed.

MLB Network reporter Matt Yallof suffered a stroke late last month, and friends are asking for donations to aid his recovery process.

According to a donation page on YouCaring.com, the 46-year-old Yallof suffered a stroke in his basement on July 29. He is apparently doing OK after spending seven days in the ICU but will require physical therapy, transportation and other rehabilitative needs that insurance won’t fully cover.

Before Gary Sanchez-mania, the Yankees had Shane Spencer’s gift | Newsday

Who remembers Shane Spencer? How about Kevin Maas?

Dodgers place Triple-A Superstar Yasiel Puig on trade waivers

Will anyone take a chance on The Wild Horse?

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 8-29-2016

Rock Island Argus, August 29, 1916:

The most interesting deal of the 1916 baseball season, or for years for that matter, was swung last night between the Cubs and the New York Giants. The deal involves the transfer of Heinie Zimmerman, the recalcitrant infielder, to the Giants in return for Larry Doyle, Hunter, an infielder, and Jacobson, an outfielder.

Because of the fact that both Doyle and Zimmerman are two of the widest known players in the National League at present, the deal is easily the ...

Lasers in the outfield—Infield isn’t only place where defense is shifting

When it comes to positioning their outfielders, the Yankees literally keep the information under their hats. Before each game, bench coach Rob Thomson, responsible for the outfield defense, gives Gardner, center fielder Ellsbury, right fielder Hicks and rookie outfielder Aaron Judge an index card with precise locations for each opposing hitter.

Those locations are determined by a proprietary computer program developed by the Yankees’ analytic squad, headed by David Grabiner. It takes a ...

Cubs star Kris Bryant has a chance to be a very unique MVP | FOX Sports

Has anyone else tried to quantify the value of position flexibility? I’ve investigated the topic a little myself for my WAR system for the simulation league I play in. Despite some effort I’ve always ended up using WAR without any additional adjustment.

But while Bryant is only in his second season and Musial is a Hall of Famer, the two could end up sharing a unique distinction.

Musial is the only player to win an MVP award after a season in which he started 30 games in both the infield and ...

OTP 2016 August 29: Minor-league team offers Trump, Clinton bobbleheads with real hair

On Sept. 3 some lucky game-goers will receive a bobble of either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, and said bobblehead will be adorned with real hair. Putatively, this is a feature and not a bug.
But wait: That’s not all!

Boston Red Sox must find solutions for struggling bullpen - Boston Red Sox Blog- ESPN

The Red Sox bullpen needs help.

Cubs wear onesies on trip from Los Angeles - Chicago Tribune

Fashion mavens they were not.

Yankees look to refinance $1B debt from new stadium | New York Post

The Yanks are roughly breaking even now. That’s just the team and doesn’t include other businesses, such as the YES Network or Legends Hospitality.

Blake Swihart says he’ll be back for spring training

Talking about roster rules.

How many times have we written about this? How many times have we broached this subject? There are always managers and general managers who rail against the current September roster system, which allows as many 40-man roster players as each team will allow.

MLB and the Players’ Association are currently in negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement, and the September roster issue is on the table, according to a major league source familiar with the ...

Blue Jays’ MVP Josh Donaldson hits 3 home runs | MLB.com

Josh Donaldson brought the rain with his first career three-homer game, and the Blue Jays brought the brooms, completing a sweep of the Twins, 9-6, and handing Minnesota its season-high 10th straight loss on Sunday afternoon at Rogers Centre.

Toronto’s third come from behind victory of the series was fueled by the reigning American league MVP. Donaldson’s two-run shot in the bottom of the seventh put the Blue Jays in front for good, and his second solo home run of the day in the eighth put the ...

Omnichatter 08-28-2016

Not your mother’s Omnichatter.

Indians’ Brandon Guyer is hit-by-pitch king | indians.com

Ouch!

How model for Yankees’ vision shows lightning-rebuild hope | New York Post

OK, they both traded for prospects. Other than that, where is the similarity?

2017 MLB Free Agent Power Rankings - MLB Trade Rumors

Tim Dierkes’ free agent power rankings.

An Appreciation: Carlos Ruiz, the most popular person of the Phillies’ golden era | PhillyVoice

Read the article for the explanation.

But Carlos Ruiz, another important homegrown stalwart from the core that helped the Phillies win a world championship, two National League pennants, and five division crowns, was arguably the most popular person during that era.

Maybe that doesn’t make any sense when you read it. Maybe it does.

Ortiz: Reyes’ father shares moment with his son | Jesus Ortiz | stltoday.com

I bet this is something a lot of us can identify with, even if we aren’t major league players.

“My dad has always given me support and always gone to my games since I was a little kid,” Reyes said. “It’s dedication. He wants to come see me pitch. I’m happy to have a father like that. He’s always out there looking for when I’m pitching and when I’m not. It was fun having him here today.”

Goold: Cardinals choose to share ‘C’ | stltoday.com

What’s the point of anointing a Captain?

Moore and Boyer were the third and fourth official team captains, respectively, following Pepper Martin and Leo Durocher, according to club history. In the modern era that singular role has been replaced by a different “C,” a leadership core. A few times during his tenure Matheny has been asked about naming a team captain or even awarding a “C,” and he has declined, saying leadership shouldn’t be consolidated.

Save the stitches. Share the ...

MLB ambassador Billy Bean spreads inclusion message

Billy Bean, who works for the commissioner’s office as its inclusion ambassador, isn’t counting the days until that watershed moment is achieved.

“That would be a lot to handle for a player while he’s playing,” said Bean, who came out after completing a six-year career as a big-league outfielder. “I feel confident that if a guy was just a great teammate and great player, that conversation could still be held in a clubhouse. It wouldn’t have to be public. That’s a great place to ...

MLB’s Statcast creates new era of data and competition | SI.com

Following up on earlier article from this week, one way for a team to differentiate itself right now is finding the best way to handle missing data.

If you are interested in sabermetrics, read this article.

Every MLB organization now has an analytics team in place to try to figure out what to do with all the data that comes from 2,430 games—roughly 750,000 pitches—a season. The 30 teams are using the data in 30 different ways, but they do all share this: an unwillingness to talk about what ...

Strained relations? Irate Hammel not happy with Maddon | Chicago Sun-Times

Want to say on the mound longer? Pitch better.

He was visibly angry when Maddon approached the mound to remove him, sought answers during a closed-door meeting with the manager after the game and didn’t hide his irritation talking to media afterward.

“I didn’t even pitch today in my mind. I barely threw 40 pitches,” said Hammel, who actually threw 39, and kept his postgame answers to even fewer syllables. “It was a side day for me pretty much.”

As recently as Friday, Maddon was ...

Padres claim Oswaldo Arcia, option Kivlehan | padres.com

Smart pickup for a bad team. He’s worth a flier.

The whirlwind season continues for Oswaldo Arcia. The Padres claimed the outfielder off waivers from the Marlins on Saturday and optioned infielder/outfielder Patrick Kivlehan to Triple-A El Paso. In addition, the club also transferred outfielder Jon Jay to the 60-day disabled list.

Arcia, 25, was designated for assignment by Miami on Thursday. This is the fourth Major League team for Arcia this season. He had played a total of 55 games in 2016 ...

Ozzie Albies might not get September callup | braves.com

If there is a real debate, the answer should be no.

Braves executives will meet with the coaching staff within the next few days to discuss which players will be added when the active roster can expand beyond 25 players in September. Ozzie Albies stands as the most intriguing candidate, but there is no guarantee the highly regarded prospect will end this season at the big league level.

Dating back to the start of Spring Training, there has been an assumption the Braves would spend at least a ...

It’s time the owner takes some blame for the disappointing Diamondbacks | FOX Sports

The instability starts at the top.

Process and evaluation matter greatly in today’s game, particularly with so much money at stake. Yet, the act that defined the D-backs’ occasional penchant for rash decision-making – the signing of Greinke as a $206.5 million free agent – was authored not by La Russa or Stewart, but by Kendrick.
...
So now what? The dismissals of La Russa and Stewart would amount to another abrupt turn, even if Kendrick determines that the moves are justified. Again: ...

Pirates’ Gerrit Cole will miss Monday start | MLB.com

This isn’t good.

Gerrit Cole will not make his scheduled start Monday in Chicago in order to seek a second opinion on his right elbow, Pirates general manager Neal Huntington announced after Saturday’s 9-6 win over the Brewers.

Dustin Pedroia’s AB hit streak ends at 11 | MLB.com

The Laser Show is fully operational.

Sunday Notes: Jessica Mendoza, Stubby Clapp, Strahm, McGuire, more | FanGraphs Baseball

David Laurila’s latest.

Sanchez Fastest In MLB History To 11 HRs

Another day, another Gary Sanchez HR:

Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez enjoyed his first career curtain call after becoming the fastest player in Major League history to reach 11 home runs, doing so in his 23rd career game on Saturday in the Yankees’ 13-5 win against the Orioles at Yankee Stadium. Sanchez connected for an opposite-field blast off Baltimore starter Dylan Bundy in the fourth inning, clearing the wall in right-center field and giving the Yankees a 5-2 lead at the time.
.  .  . ...