End of torturous rehab in sight for Rays’ Alex Cobb | Tampa Bay Times

In the 17 months since he first felt something amiss in his right arm that afternoon in Clearwater, in the 15-plus months since the Tommy John surgery to repair the tear in his elbow, in the nearly two months since he started pitching, and not particularly well, in minor-league games, Alex Cobb has remained singularly focused on getting back on the mound to start again for the Rays.

“I have a vision of when I’m going to get back, and I know it will happen,” Cobb said Wednesday. “I’ve worked ...

Swinging For The Fences: What Tim Tebow’s Baseball Past Says About MLB Hopes | NFL | NESN.com

Tebow had one thing going for him already, though: Raw, incredible power. Take the time Nease played a game at Florida Air Academy, of which future MLB star Prince Fielder was a recent graduate. “(Tebow) hits a baseball that bounces off a dormitory beyond left field,” Fagan recalls. “Their coach says, ‘I’ve never seen Prince Fielder do that.’ He hits another one over an equipment shed in right field. And the guy is like, ‘Holy crap, that’s the farthest I’ve seen anything hit ...

Why the Baltimore Orioles’ outstanding closer should not win the Cy Young | FOX Sports

Mariano Rivera never won a Cy Young Award; he finished second once, third three times. Rivera also never won an MVP, never even finished higher than ninth.

Relievers, on occasion, do win a Cy Young, an MVP, or even both. Eric Gagne captured the Cy in 2003, Dennis Eckersley the Cy and MVP in 1992, Willie Hernandez both in 1984. So, if you want to tell me that Orioles closer Zach Britton is a candidate for both honors this season, I won’t complain. But the argument for Britton is more an ...

MLB, MLBPA move to help baseball in Puerto Rico. After hurting baseball in Puerto Rico.

Yesterday Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Union announced that they will play games in Puerto Rico as part of a plan to develop and support baseball on the island. They likewise pledged $5 million for the creation of development programs in Puerto Rico and plan to stage special events there.

The press release about this made mention of Puerto Rico’s undeniably outstanding baseball tradition. What it did not mention is that, in the view of many, Major League Baseball itself harmed ...

Q&A with Kim Ng, Senior Vice President, Major League Baseball

Kim Ng is a trailblazer. Since 2011, she’s been Major League Baseball’s senior vice president of baseball operations, working under Joe Torre. When she was hired as the Yankees’ assistant general manager in 1998, she was the youngest in MLB history (at 29) to hold the position and one of only three women. She served the same role with the Dodgers for more than a decade. Before that, she was the youngest person and only woman to present salary arbitration cases. Many believe Ng (pronounced ...

Jose Fernandez pitches Marlins past Royals | MLB.com

I watched a Baseball Tonight clip of Fernandez in a few ABs. I was surprised by the number of sliders he was throwing. Checking out Brooks Baseball’s game breakdown shows that he threw 55 *curveballs*, 7 change ups, and 49 fastballs. I put asterisks around curveballs because it appears PitchFx classifies the giant break on his slider as a curveball. Anyway, for the year, Fangraphs PitchFx totals breaks down his season totals as 1189 four-seam fastballs 50%, 817 curves 34%, 296 changes 12%, and ...

Mark Teixeira: You Would Walk Gary Sanchez With Babe Ruth On Deck

Time to break out the hyperbole:

It is not a rare occurrence, except when the hitter being walked is in career game No. 21 and the batter behind him has 404 career home runs. The Seattle Mariners did not intentionally walk New York Yankees rookie sensation Gary Sanchez once Wednesday to face Mark Teixeira—they did it twice. And even Teixeira knew they had no choice.

“Shoot, if Babe Ruth is hitting behind him, you intentionally walk him,” said Teixeira after the Yankees’ 5-0 victory over the ...

OMNICHATTER 8-25-16

Guaranteed OMNICHATTER Field

(Sorry about yesterday!)

Conlon Collection Auction this Weekend

The archives of the famous Conlon Collection of baseball photographs is up for auction this weekend.  The article claims the winning bid could be a million dollars.  It should go for a lot more…....

Five California League expansion options

Why it works: Oxnard is a sweet spot for minor league franchises in California, close enough to have a rabid fanbase of a major league team, but far enough (and along such a heavily-trafficked route) that many fans can’t get to the games. With baseball passion, beautiful scenery and a large fanbase to draw from, especially once nearby Ventura’s population is included, Oxnard checks the boxes for a successful minor league franchise.

Why it doesn’t: The area is so Dodgers-heavy, it would ...

U.S. Cellular Field Changing Name To Guaranteed Rate Field

Yuck.  It’ll always be The Cell to me.

U.S. Cellular Field will change its name to Guaranteed Rate Field, the White Sox announced Wednesday afternoon.

The White Sox and Guaranteed Rate, a national mortgage lender, have signed 13-year naming rights deal, according to the Sox. But the name could last even longer — the Sox have an option of extending the deal past 2030.

Worst new stadium name?  It’s up there.

Report: A’s owner to tour waterfront site for new ballpark

Momentum may be building for an A’s stadium at the Howard Terminal site near Jack London Square.

A’s co-owner John Fisher will take what the San Francisco Chronicle called “a hush-hush tour” of that site at Port of Oakland, which mayor Libby Schaaf has long promoted as a landing spot for the team.

Fisher, who is usually quiet publicly but holds a majority stake in the A’s, will reportedly be joined on the Thursday visit by port officials familiar with real estate, environmental aspects and ...

Famed MLB ghost hunter Jon Gray finally got to explore Milwaukee’s notorious haunted hotel

He ain’t ‘fraid of no ghosts.

In June, we had the opportunity to speak to Gray about his fascination with the spiritual world, and he told us he had long dreamed of exploring Milwaukee’s famed Pfister Hotel. Now, we see, he’s made that dream a reality.

Why would Gray be so interested in the Pfister Hotel? Well, it has something of a reputation:

The hotel, reportedly haunted by its original owner, Charles Pfister, has been compared to Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion by Giancarlo Stanton . Even ...

Royals’ Cheslor Cuthbert regularly calls home to check on his chickens

When a young man receives a significant amount of money to sign with a Major League Baseball team, it’s no surprise that he won’t wait long to spend some cash.

You’ve probably heard about ballplayers buying fast, expensive cars or nice clothes or even a big house.

But Royals third baseman Cheslor Cuthbert apparently dropped some money on chickens. Seriously.

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 8-24-2016

Pittsburgh Press, August 24, 1916:

A freak feature of the Whitesox victory at the Polo grounds Saturday was the scoring of three runs by the Sox on four pitched balls, with no hit good for more than one base. Here is the way it happened:

Eddie Collins hit the first ball pitched by Mogridge in the fourth inning for a single to center. Jackson hit the next one to center and Collins camped on second. Flesch [sic] hit the next one to center and when Magee’s throw rolled through Baumann and to the ...

Mookie Betts makes amazing throw from right | MLB.com

The one knock on Betts was his arm. It appears that knock is no longer valid.

“I didn’t know I could really do that,” Betts said. “I think we were all kind of surprised there.”

For the second straight night, the Red Sox used an eighth-inning defensive play to preserve its advantage in a crucial game. With the Blue Jays beating the Angels on Tuesday, the Red Sox needed—and got—a win to stay tied with the Blue Jays atop the American League East.

Betts said he knows his arm has gotten stronger in ...

Orioles Chris Tillman headed to disabled list | MLB.com

Not good.

Orioles ace Chris Tillman is headed to the 15-day disabled list with right shoulder inflammation after receiving a cortisone shot Tuesday. Tillman was scheduled to pitch Thursday at Washington, but he felt pain in his shoulder while throwing his bullpen session Tuesday, and he was examined by Dr. Leigh Ann Curl.

“I thought once it got loose it would really go away, but it never really did, and that was my first time actually experiencing it while throwing,” Tillman said after the ...

Justin Verlander is Good Again, So Enough with the Zach Britton

As you may have read, some smart people are making a case for a reliever winning the Cy Young (and/or MVP) Award. How is this a thing in 2016?

Hint: It’s not. Not really. Writers gotta write. Beasts need to be fed. Zach Britton for Cy Young isn’t a thing (at least it shouldn’t be)

Know what is a thing?

Justin Verlander is very good again.

The Rangers release Josh Hamilton

Welp, it was probably worth the gamble given that the Angels were paying most of his salary. But the Rangers’ gamble on Josh Hamilton failed and now Josh Hamilton is a free agent. The club has given him unconditional release waivers.

Hamilton underwent surgery to repair lateral and meniscus cartilage in his left knee back in June. During surgery it was discovered that he had an ACL injury as well, which required reconstruction. This whole season was lost and, while Hamilton has one year ...

Pirates extend David Freese

The Pirates have announced that they’ve extended David Freese through 2018, with a club option for 2019. Via Jon Heyman, Freese will receive $11 million guaranteed, with the contract taking an unusual front-loaded structure—Freese gets $6.25 million next year, $4.25 million in 2018, and $6 million or a $500,000 buyout in 2019.

Freese is already 33 and is a complementary type rather than a star, so at first glance, it seems a bit odd that the Pirates would extend him. Their recent trade of ...

5 one-year deals working wonders for clubs

1. Mike Napoli, Indians ($7 million)
Rajai Davis, at $5.25 million, has also proven to be a wily add for the AL Central leaders. His speed (33 stolen bases) has aged well. But Napoli has been the power right-handed bat this club sorely needed. A full year removed from invasive surgery to address his sleep apnea issues, Napoli is on the cusp of reaching 30 homers for the first time since 2011, and his rate of at-bats to RBI (4.91:1) has been among the best in baseball. Though there’s a lot of ...

Why Yankees shouldn’t be so quick to trade Brian McCann | New York Post

Posturing.

“They [McCann and Sanchez] are our best two catchers by far, and our best team has both on the field. I would venture to guess that Sanchez-McCann would be the top catcher tandem in the game. McCann has struggled in the second half, but he was a borderline All-Star this year. So as far as I am concerned, he has a lot of value to us, let alone anyone else.”

Maybe that is posturing, but I don’t think so. Cashman said the playing time is skewed now because Sanchez is hot. The ...

Emergence of Benintendi gives Red Sox elite defensive outfield - providencejournal.com

As long as he keeps hitting, the Red Sox pitchers will benefit from some great outfield defense.

Yasiel Puig Earning Promotion On The Field But Is It Enough

In 12 games at Triple-A through Aug. 21, Puig is hitting .419 with three homers, 11 RBI and a 1.200 OPS. Clearly, minor league pitching is no match for him. The issue is, we don’t know if he can take whatever zone he’s in at Oklahoma City and transfer it to big league pitchers who have a very simple book on how to get him out. We don’t know — and this is the front office’s worry — if he will put in the work to make the necessary adjustments at the big league level.

The Kansas City Royals will miss the MLB playoffs; they have too much ground to make up | The Kansas City Star

Sam Mellinger is not optimistic about the Royals.

They have virtually no chance at making the playoffs. Still.

This is true, even now, with eight straight wins and 11 of the last 12. This is true, even now, with a wild-card deficit cut from 9 1/2 games to 3 1/2 . This is true, even now, with the starting rotation soaring and Alex Gordon hitting and Paulo Orlando making a sneaky case for team player of the year.

This is true, even now, for two main reasons:

Math, and July.

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 8-23-2016

Grantland Rice via the Pittsburgh Gazette Times, August 23, 1916:

The Giants of 1916 will always be held as one of the main mysteries of the game…First [the club] loses 13 out of 15. Then the same club wins 19 out of 21. Then comes another big drop. Then comes a rally that yields seven out of nine, then a slump that leaves but two out of eight.

At this point Buck Herzog and Sheriff Sallee are added. Now, exclaims the multitude, the machine is rounded out at last. As a starter it wins 13 out of ...

Mike Hill talks key issues for Marlins | MLB.com

Marlins info.

Edwin Encarnacion fighting back against ‘frivolous’ STD lawsuit

“Avoid the clap.” -Jimmy Dugan

Edwin Encarnacion, the American League leader in RBIs, is fighting back against a lawsuit by a woman who claims that he gave her sexually transmitted diseases.

Encarnacion’s agent, Paul Kinzer, issued a statement Tuesday morning calling the claim against the Blue Jays’ All-Star slugger “completely inappropriate and meritless.”

The suit, first reported by TMZ Sports, seeks more than $11.5 million in damages from Encarnacion, who is expected to be one of ...

OMNICHATTER 8-23-16

The Notorious O-M-N-I-C-H-A-T-T-E-R

Reds prospect Nick Senzel raking in Minors | reds.com

With his hitting skills, Senzel could be on the fast track to the Majors. He watched with interest as three 2015 first-round picks were recently promoted to the Majors in their first full pro seasons. That included overall No. 1 pick Dansby Swanson by the Braves, No. 2 pick Alex Bregman by the Astros and seventh pick Andrew Benintendi by the Red Sox.
“You’re always hopeful. You look at those guys ... get there their first full year, as a player and a college hitter that makes you hungry to get ...