Detroit Tigers release struggling closer Francisco Rodriguez

The Tiger opted today to release Rodriguez, who had continued to struggle after losing the closer’s job to Justin Wilson. The Tigers announced this afternoon they have recalled right-handed pitcher Bruce Rondon from Triple-A Toledo.

The Tigers also announced that outfielder Alex Presley has been placed on the 7-day concussion disabled list and they have selected the contract of outfielder Matt den Dekker from Toledo.

Rodriguez questioned the communication skills of manager Brad Ausmus and ...

Trout got extension but longer deal was broached

Los Angeles Angels superstar Mike Trout was that rare young positional superstar who took a long-term deal with his team, and sources say the idea of a “lifetime” 14- or 15-year deal was even mentioned in talks with the Angels before he and the team settled for a straight six years that brings him to free agency at barely 29….

After Trout’s suggestion of a possible lifetime deal wasn’t immediately accepted by the Angels (word is, he preferred shorter if not very long), the sides wound ...

Red Sox Sign Jhonny Peralta

The Red Sox have agreed to a minors deal with veteran infielder Jhonny Peralta, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe was among those to tweet. He’ll report to Triple-A for the time being, where he’ll line up at third base and attempt to give the organization another option at that area of need.

Mets are open for a selloff: Here’s how it can work

So the Mets not only should be open-minded now, they should be open for business. In Bruce, Granderson, Lucas Duda, Addison Reed and Neil Walker (currently on the DL), they have five walk-year players unlikely to return or receive the qualifying offer, which would guarantee a contract of more than $18 million next season if accepted and – as part of the new CBA – return only a draft pick following the second round if the free agent signs elsewhere.

Since they still control all of their ...

AP source: Jeter doesn’t have money needed to buy Marlins

Brother, can you spare a dime?

Derek Jeter told Major League Baseball on Thursday he doesn’t yet have the necessary money to buy the Miami Marlins and is still seeking help from other investors, a person familiar with the negotiations said.

The person described the status of the Marlins’ sale talks to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team isn’t discussing the negotiations publicly.

The person said Jeter, a 14-time All-Star shortstop, met with MLB and Marlins ...

Analytics haven’t ruined baseball, but that doesn’t mean they won’t

Verducci does, however, touch on an operative point. Analytics makes teams perform better than conventional wisdom. But analytics is indifferent to entertainment, a prime concern for what is an entertainment product. Teams are getting more efficient. That does not mean efficiency is better to watch.

Sports must engage fans. Inherent to fan engagement is a working understanding of what’s happening in front of them. That’s true whether it’s the child fantasizing about running his favorite ...

Baseball’s tumultuous relationship with the female fan

Inspired by the Civil Rights Movement and bravely paving the way for Men’s Rights Activists, men in the ‘70s sued teams over Ladies’ Days, claiming these promotions discriminated against them, as male fans were barred entry and forced to walk over coals as punishment should they arrive at the ballpark on Ladies’ Day. The lawsuits were successful, and Ladies’ Day was no more. But women continued to press for equality, emboldened by these desperate attempts to curb their increasing ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 6-23-2017

Chicago Eagle, June 23, 1917:

The force-out of a runner at the plate on a ball that dropped in the outfield is the remarkable play made in a recent game between the Phillies and Cubs. With the bases full, and one out, Mann of the Cubs poked the ball to center field…[Gavy Cravath] caught the ball on the first bounce, and, actuated by almost a sixth sense, he hurled the ball straight to Catcher Killifer and forced out Doyle, hot-footing it from third.

I’ve seen 9-3 putouts at first base before, ...

For My Compadre, Big Papi

Where we come from, we had to hustle just for the 50 pesos it cost to take the bus to the Olympic stadium to play baseball. It was 25 pesos each way. If you happened to lose 25 pesos at the ballpark, you were walking back home.

No waters. No Gatorade. No food. Nothing. If you were lucky, somebody would find a hose. That’s how we made it. We are raised by our families to be survivors.

From the time you are a baby, you learn to eat whatever is on the table. You don’t get to pick. You bless ...

Aaron Judge More Than Halfway To Rookie HR Record

All Rise!

Aaron Judge is halfway to 50 home runs. This marks the 11th time that a New York Yankees player hit 25 home runs within the team’s first 70 games of the season. Babe Ruth had five of the other 10. Roger Maris had two such years (including 1961, when he broke Ruth’s record by hitting 61 home runs). Alex Rodriguez, Mickey Mantle and Lou Gehrig had one each.
.  .  .
Twenty-five home runs in 70 team games is at a season’s pace of 57 homers, which would shatter Mark McGwire’s major ...

Recounting the many ways baseball has changed in 20 years

While some of Kurkjian’s predictions might seem outlandish now, 20 years can bring all sorts of wild changes no one could have anticipated. If I took a time machine back to 1997 and wrote a column predicting all the things that would happen, I would be laughed out of the room or burned at the stake as a heretic. (Were they burning people at the stake in 1997? I was in college then—that year is a bit of a blur.)

So let’s imagine what things have happened in the past 20 years of baseball, and ...

My OMNI has a second name, it’s CHATTER, for June 22, 2017

Kyle Schwarber headed back to Triple-A Iowa

A spokesperson for the Chicago Cubs confirmed Thursday that Schwarber is being sent back to Triple-A Iowa after struggling through the first months of the 2017 season.

The 24-year-old outfielder/catcher was expected to play a major role for the defending world champions again this season but has hit just .171 (38-for-222) in 64 games.

Schwarber has been a fan favorite ever since the Cubs selected him in the first round of the 2014 MLB Draft. That popularity skyrocketed when Schwarber shocked ...

Athletics Designate Stephen Vogt

The Athletics have designated veteran catcher Stephen Vogt for assignment in the team’s latest future-oriented move, per a club announcement. Catcher Bruce Maxwell and first baseman/outfielder Matt Olson have been called up from Triple-A, with third baseman Matt Chapman hitting the DL.

Chapman had only just been called up himself, taking over at third base with veteran Trevor Plouffe being designated and later traded to the Rays. The A’s are now calling upon two additional youthful players ...

Your 2017 MLB local broadcaster rankings

31. Chicago White Sox (road): 1.26

-Hawk Harrelson (play by play)
-Steve Stone (analyst)
-Tom Paciorek (analyst – select)

Our readers have made it three polls in a row at the bottom for Hawk Harrelson and company, to the shock of absolutely no one. The White Sox road crew’s score was the same as it was last year, and they also picked up the most F votes out of any team (as you’d expect).

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 6-22-2017

Butte Post, June 22, 1917:

Haunted, it is said, by fear of life in the European trenches, Walter Mails unceremoniously quit the Portland Coast League baseball club to accept a job at one-half the salary in a Seattle shipbuilding plant.

The eccentric southpaw pitcher’s friends assert that he quit the club because W. W. McCredie refused to guarantee his full salary to the close of the Coast league season.
...
Judge McCredie says Mails told him he didn’t want to fight and as he could make $6 a day ...

Negro Leagues Baseball Museum receives $1 million gift from MLB, players union

The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum received a substantial gift on Wednesday from Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association.

Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred and players association executive director Tony Clark were at the museum on Wednesday to announce a $1 million donation to the NLBM. Clark proposed the idea to Manfred of creating a partnership with the museum about a year ago.

“Whenever you try to rebuild something like rebuild African-American participation in our game, ...

Can rising prospect be roundabout solution to Yankees’ 1st base problem? | New York Post

The Yankees have had a first-base issue all season with Greg Bird’s struggles perhaps due to injury, his extended absence because of injury and Chris Carter’s inability to do enough of what he excels at (hitting homers) to overshadow what he does not (pretty much everything else).

As if on cue to demonstrate the point, Matt Holliday — making his eighth start at first this season — misplayed a second-inning pop-up that every cast member of “The Bad News Bears” would have caught.

...

The Mets Are Pissed At Yasiel Puig For Admiring His Homer

Puig’s fourth-inning, three-run homer off of Tyler Pill put L.A. up 5-1, and Puig circled the bases in a dilatory 32.1 seconds, the second-longest trot in the majors this season. In defense, he was distracted by exchanging words with Wilmer Flores at first and then Travis d’Arnaud at home….

Flores said he told Puig to “run the bases.” Puig responded, according to Flores, “Fuck you.”

Between innings, Jose Reyes and Yoenis Cespedes spoke to Puig.

“After I talked to Cespedes, he ...

Jarrod Dyson breaks up perfect game with bunt – and Justin Verlander isn’t mad

Baseball’s unwritten rules were back in play on Wednesday night when Seattle’s Jarrod Dyson broke up Justin Verlander’s perfect-game bid with a bunt single with one out in the sixth inning.

The inning quickly unraveled for Verlander and the Tigers after that, as the Mariners plated three runs on three more hits and two walks. Here’s the rally-starting bunt:

To his credit, Verlander wasn’t upset.

“It was a perfect bunt,” Verlander said, via MLB.com. “That’s part of his game. ...

Former White Sox infielder Tadahito Iguchi announces retirement plans

A Chicago World Series star who was not ready for DWTS .... until now.

Japanese infielder Tadahito Iguchi, who helped the Chicago White Sox win the World Series in 2005, will retire at the end of the 2017 season.

The 42-year-old Iguchi, the oldest active player in Nippon Professional Baseball, currently plays for the Chiba Lotte Marines of Japan’s Pacific League.

“I’ve been thinking when would be the right time to quit,” Iguchi said Tuesday. “I want the fans and those who supported me to ...

Retronaut: The House of David baseball team

With their long hair and beards, the House of David players drew massive crowds as they barnstormed around the country.

Famous professional players occasionally donned fake beards and joined the team for games, including Grover Cleveland Alexander, Satchel Paige, and even Babe Ruth.(They considered signing the Sultan of Swat in 1934, but decided his hedonistic lifestyle would be a poor fit for the ascetic team.)

At Long Last, Video Of One Of The Most Ridiculous And Unforgettable Plays In Nats History (WaPo)

This is pure awesomeness!! MLBAM swept away the cobwebs and wrestled out of their archives this video gem for which Nats fans have been clamoring for centuries.

Friday marks the 10th anniversary of one of the most unforgettable plays in early Nationals history, a moment right up there with Ryan Zimmerman and Adam Dunn wearing “Natinals” jerseys for a home game in 2009. If you haven’t seen the play, there’s a decent chance you’ve heard it.

MLB video direct link

What’s your ...

OMNICHATTER looks like a young Burt Reynolds, for June 21, 2017

Twins to play 2 games in Puerto Rico in 2018

The Minnesota Twins will host the Indians in Puerto Rico for two games at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico next season, the team announced Wednesday…..

To be held April 17-18, 2018, the trip will be legitimate “home games” for four Twins players with roots in Puerto Rico. Starting pitcher Jose Berrios, outfielder Eddie Rosario and slugger Kennys Vargas were born there, and left-handed pitcher Hector Santiago’s grandparents hail from Puerto Rico.

All four players suited up ...

‘Wild Thing’ Mitch Williams wins lawsuit against MLB Network

A Camden County jury on Tuesday awarded more than $1.5 million to former Phillies pitcher Mitch Williams in a civil case against MLB Network for his firing as an analyst in 2014 after disputed reports about his conduct at two of his 10-year-old son’s youth tournament baseball games….

Williams filed his lawsuit in September 2014 after losing his job with MLB Network. His termination followed two reports about two youth baseball tournament games posted online by Deadspin, a sports news and ...

How the wonks won baseball coverage

“It’s a ball now. It’s my favorite period in the business — by far,” says Tom Boswell of The Washington Post, a great baseball writer who straddles sharply different eras.

“I wish it had always been like this. You have all the old approaches to coverage still available — profiles, human interest, humor, etc. But so much more, too. For people who love to analyze (me), there’s nothing as good as real data, plus tons of unmined data where you can discover patterns that others haven’t ...

Eric Pardinho is Brazil’s first million-dollar arm

Meet the hot young Brazilian prospect.

San Antonio Missions Advance to Triple-A

Today, the Elmore Sports Group is excited to announce a major advancement in the Professional Baseball landscape in San Antonio. Starting with the 2019 season, the San Antonio Missions will advance a level to play their games in Triple-A Baseball.

The Missions, with 112 seasons of play in the Alamo City and over 100 of those seasons as a member for the Double-A Texas League, will be advancing to play Triple-A Baseball as a member of the Pacific Coast League. The PCL is one level of play from ...

A’s owners say moving four miles to new stadium will create $3B in economic benefits, I’m done | Field of Schemes

Logic and politics don’t go together.