Baseball America: 2014 Boston Red Sox Top 10 Prospects

TOP 10 PROSPECTS

1. Xander Bogaerts, ss/3b
2. Henry Owens, lhp
3. Jackie Bradley, of
4. Allen Webster, rhp
5. Blake Swihart, c
6. Garin Cecchini, 3b
7. Mookie Betts, 2b
8. Brandon Workman, rhp
9. Matt Barnes, rhp
10. Trey Ball, lhp

The emergence of Bogaerts (with 2012 first-rounder Deven Marrero not far behind) rendered Jose Iglesias expendable at the trade deadline. Third baseman Garin Cecchini led the minors with a .443 on-base percentage, giving the Red Sox a depth of talent on the left ...

Fred Klein HOF Ballot

Interesting mix of players… “Maddux, Glavine, Thomas, Biggio, Piazza, Schilling, Edgar, Morris, Lee Smith, Trammell”...at least he used all 10 slots.

Rudolph Claus Blitzensen stats finally online.

After working his way up from the Workshop Summer League and the Arctic League, Rudolph proved to be a vital component in the Reindeers’ 2013 playoff run.

Crasnick: Braves Sign Gavin Floyd

Gavin Floyd has passed physical and agreed to deal with #braves. He’ll make $4M base and can earn $4.5M more in incentives.

Bill Deane: The 2014 Hall of Fame election forecast

While I disagree on a few…it sure beats Pigskin Pete Predicts!

This is my 33rd year predicting Hall of Fame elections.  I think the acid test of prognostication performance lies in guessing the fate of men who finish within 10% either way of being elected (i.e., who receive between 65-85% of the vote).  Among such candidates, I have gone 50-12 (.806) in correctly predicting who would or would not make it over the years.  I was one of the few who correctly, publicly forecast the 2013 shutout.

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Cards add Ellis as insurance for Wong

The Cardinals’ search for a second baseman to complement and challenge rookie Kolten Wong ended swifter than they expected but landed the infielder they coveted.

Mark Ellis and the Cardinals have agreed on a one-year contract that will be finalized and announced early this week after the veteran passes a physical. A source confirmed the agreement to the Post-Dispatch, which was first to report the deal Sunday morning on STLtoday.com.

Ellis, 36, hit .270 in 126 games with the Los Angeles ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 12-16-2013

Pittsburgh Press, December 16, 1913:

August Herrmann, chairman of the National commission, denied a report…that he would resign as president of the Cincinnati baseball club, following the action of the board of directors in refusing to sanction the…sale of the deposed manager, Joseph B. Tinker, to the Brooklyn club for $25,000.
...
A great many Cincinnati fans are inclined to laugh at “Garry” these days. Until the past few days everyone thought he was the real owner of the Reds, but the action ...

Oakland ballpark backers tout waterfront site

Clorox: A bright way out of a jam.

Imagine AT&T Park flanked by giant shipping cranes - that’s pretty much the vision A’s boosters have for a 38,000-seat ballpark at the Port of Oakland, just west of Jack London Square.

The $500 million waterfront ballpark is being proposed by a team led by Clorox chairman and CEO Don Knauss and former Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream boss T. Gary Rogers - with the blessing of Oakland Mayor Jean Quan.

“It’s one of the two sites we promised Major League Baseball we ...

Miguel Tejada suspended from Dominican winter league for buying shares in rival team

Miguel Tejada has had a 16-year major league career defined by highs, lows and unfathomable missteps, all of which were chronicled by Big League Stew’s Dave Brown back in August. Now comes news from MLB’s Jesse Sanchez — with an assist to Dionisio Soldevila — that Tejada recently ran into more trouble after admitting to purchasing stock in the Gigantes del Cibao Dominican league franchise while serving as an active player with Aguilas Cibaenas.

That falls under two different ...

Ted Williams: Secrets of baseball’s greatest hitter — and an unsung hero on race

He lived big (three marriages, countless affairs), feuded big (many believe at his Hall of Fame induction he mumbled the F-word when describing a longtime enemy in the press who had been dead for years) and swore big (according to a man who knew them both, General Patton was not Williams’ equal at cursing). He left behind a legend big enough to fill several big, rich volumes, most recently and most notably Ben Bradlee Jr.’s “The Kid: The Immortal Life of Ted Williams” (Little Brown).

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Ryan Freel was suffering from CTE

Former baseball star and Jacksonville native Ryan Freel was suffering from a degenerative brain disease known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy when he committed suicide last year, his family announced Sunday at a mass honoring the Englewood graduate.

The report from the Boston University Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy and Sports Legacy Institute was presented to Freel’s mother and stepfather, Norma and Clark Vargas, and to representatives from Major League Baseball on Dec. ...

Baseball America: Toronto Blue Jays Top 10 Prospects

From Nay to Nolin…naysayers unite!

TOP 10 PROSPECTS

1. Aaron Sanchez, rhp
2. Marcus Stroman, rhp
3. D.J. Davis, of
4. Mitch Nay, 3b
5. Franklin Barreto, ss
6. Daniel Norris, lhp
7. Roberto Osuna, rhp
8. Alberto Tirado, rhp
9. Dawel Lugo, ss
10. Sean Nolin, lhp

The farm system still has high-ceiling arms, but after the wave of trades the talent is concentrated at the lower levels of the organization. The trades left the upper minors short on prospects and long in the tooth. The pitching ...

Stone: Robinson Cano’s journey to stardom was years in the making

Robbie: Strange playfellow?

But former Mets GM Steve Phillips told The Seattle Times’ Ryan Divish last week in Orlando that Cano “has kind of a lackadaisical, sort of nonchalance about him sometimes that has grown to be accepted in New York. … He had people who stuck up for him. Derek Jeter said, ‘No, no, he’s fine.’

“But in a new place, when you don’t have that collateral relationship with the fans, if you don’t hit, then you go out there and look like you’re kind of ...

The Bob Ryan HOF Ballot

“Bagwell is a borderline candidate I happen to favor.” And we’re off…

Maddux, Glavine, Biggio, F. Thomas, Piazza, Bagwell, E. Martinez, J. Morris, Raines, Schilling.

There are many other worthy people on this ballot. I would not quarrel with anyone who votes for Moises Alou, Jeff Kent, Don Mattingly, Fred McGriff, Mike Mussina, Lee Smith, Alan Trammell, or Larry Walker. Add my 10, these eight, and the five PED guys and that makes 23 reasonably qualified candidates for baseball’s highest ...

Mike Francesa and YES Network to split up after 10-year relationship

Screw the Castellammarese…the Parmigiana War is going to be uncourgettable!

It soon will be splitsville for the Sports Pope and the Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network.

The 10-year+ simulcast relationship between WFAN’s Mike (Sports Pope) Francesa and the YES Network will be over by the end of January, the Daily News has learned. YES will replace Francesa’s afternoon drive show with ESPN-98.7’s “The Michael Kay Show.”

A TV executive familiar with the situation confirmed the ...

Uribe agrees to two-year contract with Dodgers

The Dodgers and third baseman Juan Uribe finally came to terms Saturday on a two-year, $15 million deal that resolves the club’s biggest hole, according to a baseball source.

The Dodgers enjoyed Uribe’s 83 OPS+ over 900 PAs so much, they brought him back for two more years at $7.5M per.

Robinson Cano’s ‘respect’ comments confuse, surprise Yankees executives

(NSFW language)

Yankees executives were a bit surprised by Robinson Cano’s comments Thursday when he said he felt disrespected by the club.

But they weren’t angry.

And one even seemed to feel sorry for the second baseman.

“I feel bad for him because I think he’s disappointed he’s not a Yankee,” team president Randy Levine said Friday. “But I respect him and he’s free to say whatever he wants to say. We still respect him and he’s always going to be fondly remembered as a Yankee.”

During ...

Ventura recharged heading into 2014

Just don’t recharge the mound.

As of now, Ventura still is not sure what that roster will look like.

“You go through a season like you did last year, there are changes,” Ventura said of the Sox’s 63-99 year. “When you make changes you would, for the most part, like to have a lot of young guys who are good and you have control over for a lot of years. But you also want guys who are established and you know what you’re going to get.”

...At least the infusion of youth could help bring about the ...

Let’s Go Tribe’s Hall of Fame voting results

They used the same voting format as the Deadspin poll where people have unlimited ballot space. If this is an indication of how Deadspin is going to vote, then that ballot would be: Maddux, Thomas, Glavine, Piazza, Biggio, Bagwell, Bonds, Clemens, and Schilling with all but Schilling with at least 63%. Raines came in 10th place with 46%.

Fleming: Robinson Cano to the Mariners

Interesting analysis of the value of Cano vs. Ellsbury & Beltran moving forward…

STAN FISCHLER: Joe Torre deserved his spot in baseball Hall of Fame

Stan Fischler…funnier than Abbott and Costello in “Hit the Ice”!

* As a Brooklyn boy, I’m tickled that Joe Torre has become a Hall of Famer.

* As a New York newsman, I covered Joe when he and brother Frank tore up the Parade Grounds League in Flatbush, across from Prospect Park.

* I have no problem with Bobby Cox or Tony La Russa making the Cooperstown trek.

* But why the big fuss over the Marvin Miller snub? The late baseball union boss of bosses long ago made it clear that he didn’t ...

Tuberty: Dwight Evans’ Strong Sabermetric Statistics Underscore His Overlooked HOF Case

Flippin’ Flegenheimer’s…nothing can kill off Dewey!

By not selecting Evans for the ballot, the Committee overlooked a player with a strong Hall of Fame case underscored by sabermetric statistics finer than any hitter on the Expansion Era ballot and on par with the right fielders he played alongside who are already enshrined in Cooperstown.

...By viewing Evans’ career under sabermetrics rather than just by traditional statistics and milestones, we see that Evans is a much more worthy Hall of ...

Noble: Jacoby Ellsbury’s biggest impact will come on defense

Noble: Hollow, sleepy analysis.

Some opposing player—some Markakis, Machado or Middlebrooks—will swing with a gapper in mind and begin what he senses will be a 60-yard sprint (with one left-hand turn involved) to scoring position. Only then will the change become evident to anyone who has witnessed the brilliance of Willie Mays, Paul Blair, Ken Berry, Devon White, Garry Maddox, Andrew Jones and precious few others. The gapper will be reduced from two bases to too bad and denied its place among ...

Dave Lariviere HOF Ballot

No votes for “druggies”, but a vote for Piazza!  How do these writers still not see the value of Bagwell?

“My ballot will show eight names, double the highest amount I’ve ever tabbed in my two decades of voting. And I don’t vote for the druggies either.”

Maddux, Glavine, Biggio, Piazza, Thomas, Mussina, Lee Smith!, McGriff…

“Players such as Jeff Bagwell, Jack Morris, Tim Raines and Edgar Martinez were considered but fall short of greatness in my view.” ...Read More...

Omar Infante, Kansas City Royals reach four-year deal - ESPN

Yankees get outmaneuvered again.

Free agent infielder Omar Infante has agreed to a four-year deal worth about $30 million with the Kansas City Royals, sources told ESPN’s Buster Olney.

Northborough teen has been hot on trail at Winter Meetings

Interesting article about a kid who sounds like he’s having a lot more fun in high school than I did.

As a remarkable self-starter who currently writes for SB Nation’s MLB Daily Dish, he’s making a habit of breaking major baseball news, the kind that usually comes from national writers with years of experience and a couple of iPhones’ worth of contacts.

When pitcher Ricky Nolasco signed a $49 million deal with the Twins Nov. 27, it wasn’t a prominent insider such as Ken Rosenthal, Jon ...

Curt Schilling plans to reinvent the way pitching is talked about in new Sunday Night Baseball role

Shake a leg…there’s a mega pants load on the way.

See, Schilling is not suddenly going to change himself for this gig. He does sound like a guy who firmly believes he can reinvent the way pitching is analyzed on TV, without the aid of graphic gimmicks that (our opinion, not his) have become a crutch for the analyst.

“I can watch a pitcher for an inning and have a deep and wide understanding of who and what they are and what they do,” Schilling said.

He already has outlined a 26-week plan on ...

Craig Calcaterra on Hot Stove

FIRE CRAIG CALCATERRA (ahead of curve here)

Ron Coomer will be new Cubs radio analyst

Ron Coomer will be the Cubs’ new radio analyst. The Tribune has confirmed he agreed to a two-deal that will be announced Friday to replace Keith Moreland in the WGN-AM 720 booth alongside play-by-play man Pat Hughes.

He became the clear front-runner as the other reported finalist, Todd Hollandsworth, took a full-time position with the MLB Radio Network, according to industry sources.

Coomer, 47, played for the Cubs in 2001 during a nine-year career mostly as a corner infielder. The Lockport ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 12-13-2013

Toledo News-Bee, December 13, 1913:

[Christy Mathewson] was chinning the other day and made a crack about the carrying of grips around the country. You know, ball players have to do quite a bit of lugging in the summer. As a rule, the right-handers invariably tote the bag in their right mitt and the southpaws with the left hand. Not so with Matty. He makes his lazy wing do all the heavy work. And he has for 10 years.

Matty also spring the argument about the amount of energy wasted by flingers ...