The Twins May Have Weakened a Weakness | FanGraphs Baseball

Do the Twins really need defense?

Santa Claus remembers Cleveland Indians whether they’ve been naughty or nice | cleveland.com

It’s gift time in Cleveland.

J-Roll: John Middleton aspires to be ‘Steinbrenner South’ | Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia

Salisbury goes on to ask what Middleton is like, suggesting a George Steinbrenner of the South type of figure who is willing to go to whatever lengths possible to put a winner on the field.

“That’s his ambition, to be Steinbrenner South,” Rollins said.

“You can feel it when you meet the guy, he wants to put a winner out there. But he wants to be in control, don’t get it wrong. But he wants to put a winner out there very badly. I know he would like to have more influence, obviously have ...

Sports Analytics: The Extra Man

Posting this primarily for the summary at the end of the article:

The way to operationalize any sports analytics initiative would be to follow the below steps:

Data Engineering Layer – The first and critical step is to ensure there’s integration of all the available data (both internal and external) into a common database since incomplete data will yield non-optimized results/analysis.

Structured Problem Solving Platform - While most analytics products focus on complex analytical ...

Orioles still interested in Padres’ Seth Smith and Will Venable, sources say - Baltimore Sun

Smith and Venable aren’t great but they are useful players.

Big gap still exists in Mets’ Tulowitzki talks—and Yankees check in on SS - CBSSports.com

Will one of the New York teams ante up?

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 12-24-2014

Milwaukee Journal, December 24, 1914:

With the money obtained from the sale of a herd of steers, Walter Johnson, star pitcher of the Washington American league club, yesterday mailed a draft reimbursing Charles Weeghman, president of the Chicago Federals, for the bonus given Johnson when he signed a Federal contract. The draft was for $6,000.
...
“As far as I’m concerned the incident, which has proven an unpleasant one to me , at least, is now closed,” Johnson said. “There is nothing more I can ...

Topps Bunt app: Can the company save itself and a beloved hobby with baseball cards that live inside your phone?

Shoutout to Sy Berger.

“The initial thought exercise, in 2012, was, If you were to re-create a baseball card, in our day and age, what would it look like?” Michael Bramlage told me. “First thing was, it should live on your phone. You know, the phone in your pocket is about the same size as a baseball card.”

Bramlage, the vice president, digital at the trading card giant Topps, is talking about Bunt, the free app I used to open a pack of Topps Frozen Phenoms.  My phone shuddered, and ...

Is Yasiel Puig baseball’s worst baserunner? - SweetSpot Blog - ESPN

A look at Puig on the bases.

Sherman: Yankees’ cold-blooded A-Rod approach was missing with Jeter

Pasta diving Lupica:

The organization that talks more about winning-or-bust than any other — maybe more than all the others combined — last year prioritized Derek Jeter’s farewell tour over victories.

Let us count the ways:

Hal Steinbrenner ordered his re-signing — and at decent money — though Jeter was coming back from a horrific ankle injury, there was infinitesimal history of a shortstop succeeding at Jeter’s age and despite there being pretty much zero chance Jeter was going to ...

Steve Popper’s First HOF Ballot

Popper’s Votes- Bonds, Clemens, Unit, Pedro, Smoltz, Piazza, Bagwell, Biggio, Schilling, and Mussina.

If voting for PED suspects is OK with, you, it’s a pretty good ballot/article- nice job, rookie!

How’s that Wil Myers trade look now?

Here are three Wil Myers stories that might be of interest:

1.) During one spring training, there was a video made that featured Wil Myers and George Brett. The Royals Hall of Famer was going to show the Royals prospect how to put pine tar on a bat, but the Royals prospect started arguing … with George Brett … about pine tar. A small thing, but it might have indicated an attitude problem.

2.) While Myers was in the Rays minor-league system, he said he didn’t need a two-strike approach ...

Bill James Mailbag - 12/20/14 - 12/23/14

Is it time for the airing of grievances yet?

Bill, Will Myers was just trades to the Padres? Can you think of someone traded TWICE while in the minors and/or their early career and went on to become a great player? The only one I can think of is Sammy Sosa.

The Big Papi. Joe Cronin. Edd Rousch, Paul Konerko, Curt Schilling. Bobby Abreu, maybe.

Gary Sheffield was traded twice by 25.

Right, but he had a big season before the second trade.

Hey Bill, if I’m not mistaken, you referred to Herman ...

The Cubs, the Red Sox and a Blank Check | Community – FanGraphs Baseball

An interesting idea.

The Magic and Mysticism of Baseball’s Projections – The Hardball Times

That’s the nature of projection. They are meant to be conservative. I usually only use them as a reality check for minor league players.

Thus far, there only seems to be one acceptable way for our projectionists to establish an authority for their method: lower the RMSE, or “root mean square error.” In an analysis of numerous projection systems at Baseball Prospectus this December, Rob Arthur found what I consider to be a shocking amount of agreement. Arthur points out that players who had ...

Fangraphs: How the Teams are Built

Looking at the A’s 40-man roster, 27 players were acquired via trade, the most in the MLB, and five more off waivers. The A’s aren’t like most teams, with regards to their payroll, and so the A’s aren’t like most teams, with regards to how they’re built.

Sean Doolittle is the longest-tenured A’s player, drafted in the first round of the 2007 draft. A.J. Griffin was a 13th-round draft pick in 2010, and Sonny Gray was a first-round pick in 2011. The fourth guy is Renato Nunez, who ...

Here’s how MLB teams weigh injury worries. | SportsonEarth.com : Lindsay Berra

As Wade points out, overall risk has increased greatly in recent years, because with the amount of money and years involved, contracts have become virtually uninsurable; endless exclusions and high premiums make them cost-prohibitive when added to the cost of the actual contract.

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 12-23-2014

Tacoma Times, December 23, 1914:

Eddie Collins came near never being a member of the Chicago White Sox because his wife refused to believe that the biggest men in baseball wanted to see him.
...
“Hello,” said a voice [on the phone]. “This is President Johnson of the American league. I want to speak to Mr. Collins.”

“We’ve had practical jokers call us up before,” replied Mrs. Collins sweetly as she hung up the receiver.

Five minutes later the telephone rang again and a voice said: “This is ...

Changes coming to MLBPA agent certification | FOX Sports

This sounds like a nice set up for existing agents, especially big agencies. The college degree requirement is a curious one. So a person who gets drafted, plays twenty years, is actively involved with the union, and has knowledge of the intricacies of player contracts can’t be an agent?

But ask the industry about bad agents, and you’ll get a list of infractions that don’t necessarily focus on felonies, CBA rules, or players on the forty-man. Agents can make mistakes when it comes to handling ...

IRS to auction remainder of Darryl Strawberry’s salary

You can own a piece of baseball history, but it’s nothing that can be put on a shelf.
The Internal Revenue Service is putting outfielder Darryl Strawberry’s retirement annuity on the auction block next month.

The annuity, seized by the IRS because Strawberry owed back taxes, was part of a contract he signed in 1985, back when he was slugging home runs for the New York Mets.

Padres resign Josh Johnson

This is the sort of deal I thought Brett Anderson would get. Seems like a great low-risk, high-upside signing for the Padres.

Edit: Title fixed. Jim.

Phil Hughes gets three-year contract extension from Twins

Hughes, who won 16 games in his first season in Minnesota, has been rewarded with a three-year extension that will pay him an additional $42 million, the team announced Monday. The righthander’s $8 million salary in each of the next two seasons has been increased to $9.2 million, and he will earn $13.2 million per year from 2017-2019.

That makes the Twins’ total commitment to Hughes $58 million over the next five seasons. It’s the longest commitment the Twins have ever made to a starting ...

Turner Situation Could Lead To Sea Change In Draft Pick Trades - BaseballAmerica.com

Get rid of this rule and the rule that keeps teams from trading draft picks.

The 3-D ‘Bud Selig Experience’: A Real Thing That Is Actually Happening

So it was announced that Miller Park would now contain something called “The Selig Experience,” and this is not something I am making up, either. Neither am I making this part up:

  The exhibition space totals approximately 1,400 square feet, and will include authentic artifacts from Selig’s tenure as the Brewers owner. A multimedia show will include a 3-dimensional encounter with Selig inside a reproduction of his old Milwaukee County Stadium office.

The number of people who had a ...

Pirates Win Bidding For Jung-ho Kang

The Pirates have won the bidding for Korean infielder Jung-ho Kang, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. The amount of the winning bid has yet to be reported, but Kang’s former club, the Nexen Heroes of the Korea Baseball Organization, will reportedly accept the bid.

The Heroes, you say???

Jonah Keri’s Hypothetical Hall of Fame Ballot; Plus a Randy Johnson Appreciation

Those who challenge the notion that Johnson is the best lefty of all time commonly invoke Sandy Koufax’s name. While even the most ardent Koufax proponents have to concede that their man wasn’t all that great until the final six years of his career, those six seasons have taken on mythic proportions and are often held up as the greatest peak years by any pitcher.

Well, it turns out that Johnson’s best six-year run compares favorably with Koufax’s: The Big Unit won four consecutive Cy ...

The Downside of the Recent Padres Acquisitions | Articles | Bill James Online

What the bats giveth, the gloves taketh away.

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 12-22-2014

Omaha Daily Bee, December 22, 1914:

Charles Weeghman, president of the Chicago Federals, [yesterday] announced that he had submitted to his counsel the case of Walter Johnson, star pitcher, who Saturday signed up with his old team, the Washington Americans, after having recently accepted a contract with the Chicago Federals.

“Walter Johnson will play with the Chicago Federals next year or not at all,” said Weeghman. “I have laid the case before counsel, and we will fight it to the United States ...

Tulo focusing on rehab, not trade rumors | rockies.com

Isn’t Tulo always focusing on rehab?

Yankees will pay for education of children of NYPD cop Ramos - NY Daily News

Yankee owner George Steinbrenner died in 2010, but his appreciation for the men and women in blue who protect New York City lives on.

For 32 years, Steinbrenner’s Yankee Silver Shield Foundation has provided for the education of the children of New York City police officers, firemen and Port Authority employees who died in the line of duty, and will do so for the family of NYPD officer Rafael Ramos, gunned down by a cold-blooded killer Saturday along with his partner, Wenjian Liu.