MLB Fines Julio Pablo Martinez $100,000 | BaseballAmerica.com

MLB has no issues regarding Martinez’s age or identity. The league did not determine that Martinez traveled anywhere illegally or falsified his residency in Haiti. On Feb. 20, MLB cleared Martinez to sign beginning on March 6. However, MLB determined that Martinez had spent more time in the U.S. and Canada than the information he had submitted on forms to the commissioner’s office, which prompted the $100,000 fine.

Rockies Face Talented Challenge in Roster Decision — Inside the Seams

The Cowboy breaks down the Rockies roster options.

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 2-26-2018

Washington Times, February 26, 1918:

“Irish” Meusel, the young outfielder once with the Griffmen and now on the reserve list of the Philadelphia Nationals, is due to receive his third contract in a day or so. He’s in the contract-receiving business.

The first contract he got from Colonel Baker angered him because of the low salary mentioned and he threw it away. Back again went another contract, calling for the same old figured. Meusel tore that up and mailed the pieces to the classical leader ...

OTP 26 February 2018: Hope springs eternal in baseball and politics

This is a special time for baseball fans. Major league baseball is ready to begin another season, with spring training officially opening this week. With some exceptions, fans in most cities can at least dream of watching their team play in the postseason and maybe even compete for the World Series championship. For them, hope springs eternal.

Ditto for the Democratic Party. 2018 appears to be a “wave year,” with an opportunity to win control of the House of Representatives, maybe even the ...

That guy standing by Cash in the dugout? All part of Rays’ plan

J-Money made a really good point in that he couldn’t believe how fast the game was. He just couldn’t believe the reactions, the decision-making. And I think he also valued watching the guys coming off the mound like if a guy struggled or didn’t make a play. That’s a perspective they’re going to value maybe a little bit more.”

Rays Lack Of Spending Makes It Hard To Compete | BaseballAmerica.com

J.J. Cooper says Rays are just cheap.

Mets wondering if Amed Rosario will ever live up to expectations - NY Daily News

Player development is not linear.

Twenty things to watch this baseball season

One of these things is not like the others.

11. Wondering which young player will emerge as baseball’s next superstar. Our candidates include Rafael Devers (Red Sox), Christian Arroyo (Rays), Gleyber Torres (Yankees), Ronald Acuna (Braves).

Where Defensive Opportunities Have Declined Most | FanGraphs Baseball

This needs a larger study before conclusions can be drawn.

Keston Hiura makes a successful debut

The next big thing in Milwaukee.

Two-fer homers? That, and other radical ideas to keep MLB fans engaged | New York Post

No thank you. Baseball doesn’t need radical changes; it just needs to pick up the pace to get back to the pace of the 1980’s.

Lovullo adjusting to new mound-visit rules

Some interesting points here about the impact to the game of this new rule

Angels two-way player Shohei Ohtani has mixed results in 1 1/3 innings on mound | LA Times

“It’s still too early to tell, but I think I’m going in the right direction,” he said through an interpreter. “It’s just the first start.”

Ohtani struck out two Milwaukee Brewers and had one strike back, Keon Broxton homering to lead off the second inning. His fastball regularly reached the mid-90s, with a top-end speed of 97 mph.

He also gave up an unearned run, a ground-rule double, walked one batter and mostly fell behind hitters, fighting his control. One of his pitches was officially ...

Kurkjian: The Most Unappreciated Baseball Trait? Strength.

The strength of the players, especially in their hands, wrists and forearms, goes largely unappreciated: I’ve never met a position player who wasn’t really strong in those areas, even dinky, little middle infielders. Indeed, after Michael Jordan’s one year in baseball in 1994, one of his many observations about the game was that virtually every player on his Double-A team was stronger than him from the tips of their fingers to their elbow.

Awesome MLB Feats of Strength anecdotes at link. ...Read More...

Picking the best MLB over-under bet for 2018

Grant Brisbee’s latest.

The first step is to rummage through and get some quick thoughts. The Dodgers and Astros being at 96.5 seems high, just because it’s hard for any team to count on 97 wins. On the other hand, both teams are loaded and deep, and if something breaks, they’ll trade prospects for glue. The Marlins seem like a lock to lose 100 games, except it’s really, really hard for teams to lose 100 games. Baseball doesn’t like extremes.

I would like to take a break and point out ...

Arizona Diamondbacks analysis: Yasmany Tomas contract keeps hurting

But a lot could happen between now and Opening Day. It’s possible Tomas could put together a huge spring training performance and compel the Diamondbacks to keep him on the roster, hoping he could provide right-handed power off the bench, something they could use. Or an injury or two could open the door.

But if the Diamondbacks get to the end of camp, decide they don’t want Tomas on the roster and need a 40-man spot, he might wind up being designated for assignment.

Even that, though, ...

Closest MLB Park by Drive Time

Just for fun, a map that treats baseball in North America as a pattern of watersheds.  Before clicking, can you guess which MLB franchise has the greatest number of people living closer to its park than to any other ML park?

Among other factoids, I see that El Paso is closer to Phoenix than it is to either Dallas or Houston. I’m not sure if there are a lot of D’Backs fans in El Paso, but if you want to drive to a game from there, Arizona is your best bet.

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 2-23-2018

Bridgeport Times, February 23, 1918:

Charles H. Weeghman, President of the Chicago Cubs, last night served notice on players regarded as “holdouts” that unless they come to terms before the departure of the club for the spring training camps, early next month, they would be obliged to seek other employment.
...
[Weeghman:] “The club cannot afford to pay enormous salaries and the players should be made to understand the situation confronting the owners.

Yeah, gosh, I wonder where people got the ...

SABR announces 2018 Henry Chadwick Award recipients

SABR is pleased to announce the 2018 recipients of the Henry Chadwick Award, established to honor the game’s great researchers—historians, statisticians, annalists, and archivists—for their invaluable contributions to making baseball the game that links America’s present with its past. 
The 2018 recipients of the Henry Chadwick Award are: Jefferson Burdick, Bob McConnell, Tom Shieber, Andrew Zimbalist.

Inside Baseball MLB Notes | Hanley Ramirez Ready For Comeback

Jon Heyman’s weekly notes.

Inside Baseball | Picking Jake Arrieta’s New Team

The Wizard doesn’t want you looking behind the curtain.

Anyway, Boras sees analytics as a management excuse to keep salaries down. He says Hosmer brought that same kind of “prestige,” meaning championships, leadership and intangibles. In his way of figuring, Arrieta beats Darvish badly in what Boras calls “prestige” value.

Arrieta has Cy Young votes three of the last four years (Darvish hasn’t had Cy Young votes since 2013), and he won one Cy Young, in 2015. He beats good teams, and ...

Rays trade Odorizzi to Twins, acquire Cron from Angels, DFA All-Star Dickerson

UPDATE: Pirates acquire Dickerson from Rays

Hudson is owed $5.5 million this season. No word on how much cash the Pirates sent to Tampa.

The Pittsburgh Pirates today acquired outfielder Corey Dickerson from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for pitcher Daniel Hudson, minor league infielder Tristan Gray and cash considerations. The announcement was made by Executive Vice President, General Manager Neal Huntington.

Rays made two other moves yesterday.

The most perplexing was designating for ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 2-22-2018

Washington [Pennsylvania] Reporter, February 22, 1918:

The end of the spit-ball spit-ball [sic] is coming. John K. Tener, president of the National League, has issued a warning to young pitchers, advising them not to cultivate the use of the spitball, and indicating that it was only the matter of a short time when it would be abolished.
...
[Tener:] “The spit-ball is a disgusting, unsanitary delivery not likely to endure more than a few more seasons at the most. All the members of the National ...

MLB Should Embrace Rule That Lets Teams Bat Anyone They Want In 9th Inning

According to Rich Eisen, one MLB exec recently told him that there is a rule being discussed by some in the game that would basically cause a riot. It goes like this: In the 9th inning only, the manager of the trailing team would be allowed to send up any three players he wants for the first three at-bats of the inning. It doesn’t matter where a team is in the batting order during the game. The skipper can send up anyone he wants in any order for the first three at-bats in the 9th.

  ...Read More...

What if the Rays actually have a good plan?

Dickerson and Odorizzi aren’t very good. Particularly with Odorizzi, the Rays have capable replacements. Why pay extra money for no gain?

We still don’t know the two PTBNL the Rays are getting in the Souza deal. If Keith Law’s report about the guys not being insignificant prospects is accurate, Bloom’s assertion that it was a baseball talent deal makes the handwringing about the deal misguided.

Inside Mickey Callaway’s steps toward modernizing the Mets | New York Post

Better coaching through better technology.

“We have enough storage on our computers, we can put as much on there as we want,” he said. “When you are working on those drills, you need that side angle, especially for pitchers. That open angle is huge.’’

National Baseball Writers: Your Tampa Bay Rays Hot Takes are Bad - DRaysBay

A smart take.

The Rays are now the least interesting team in baseball - CBSSports.com

A bad take.

Baseball’s Economics Aren’t As Skewed As They Seem - The Ringer

Don’t have time to read right now but it looks interesting.

What Explains Labor’s Declining Share of Revenue in Major League Baseball? by J.C. Bradbury.

Rays move fast to fill RF void, strike 1-year, $4M deal with Carlos Gomez

A reasonable facsimile of Steven Souza and the Rays get a few other players. (PTBNL still waiting to be named. Keith Laws says, “The Rays can still come out ahead in this deal depending on who the players to be named are—I’m told they’re more than just throw-ins—but Souza, with three years remaining before free agency, is a big loss, and Banda and Solak alone don’t make up for it.”)