Norichika Aoki signs with Giants

Norichika Aoki signed a one-year, $4.7 million contract with the Giants on Friday.

The deal is for 2015 plus a club option for 2016, a relatively short-term contract for someone reportedly seeking a multi-year pact. Aoki will earn $4 million in 2015, per Shea, plus a $5.5 million option, plus up to $1.5 million annually in performance bonuses. The 2016 option comes with a $700,000 buyout.

And a mandatory refresher on the player the Giants are acquiring.

MLB to use pitch clock in Double-A, Triple-A games - ESPN

Do they really need a clock? Can’t the umpires just speed up the pace by making the batters get in the box quicker and making the pitcher deliver the ball as soon as the batter is in the box? The Rules of Play already cover this. Rule 6 (The Batter) and Rule 8 (The Pitcher) already place time limits on the batter and pitcher. So, they don’t need to change the rules; they just need to enforce them.

Hart says he will not trade Kimbrel « Bowman’s Blog

Kimbrel was a topic of conversation for some of the MLB Radio shows yesterday. In the morning Steve Phillips insisted he had to go. In the afternoon a host insisted he shouldn’t go anywhere. IMHO, it depends on their timeline. If they truly believe they can be competitive when the new park opens, they should hold onto him. If their timeline is longer than it makes sense to send him away for more prospects. John Hart has stated that he believes the Braves can be competitive for a playoff spot in ...

Monfort tells NY paper Tulo deal ‘not happening’ | rockies.com

I guess it wouldn’t be prudent at this juncture.

Arthur Rhodes officially retires

MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon reports that reliever Arthur Rhodes has officially retired from baseball.

Rhodes hasn’t pitched since 2011, but I think he still deserves a proper sendoff. 20 years, 900 games, 1,152 strikeouts, one All-Star berth, and two of the biggest earrings you ever saw.

Cardinals fans voted most insufferable.

St. Louis Cardinals fans – enduring a month of voting by readers of Ball Eight – were chosen as the “Most Insufferable Fans” in baseball. After easily advancing to the finals, Cardinals fans dismantled Yankees fans 77 percent to 23 percent – a bigger margin of victory even than the semifinals against Braves fans.

Countdown of the Best 25 GMs - #21

Still just 47, Cashman likely has a long career ahead of him.

Let the gnashing of teeth begin…

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 1-16-2015

Topeka State Journal, January 16, 1915:

The fame of Caruso is safe. Ivy Wingo, catcher of the St. Louis Cardinals, indorses [sic] him. In writing to a friend in St. Louis the near Cincinnati Red said:

“I have just bought a phonograph and bunch of records and a lot of them are by this Caruso. He is there. I would rather be Caruso than anybody in the world but Ty Cobb. At that, I’d like to be Cobb in summer time and Caruso in the winter. I have never seen the big [1915-era Italian racial slur ...

Congrats to Hank the Ballpark Pup, your 2014 Dog of the Year award winner

Beat out Paris Hilton, I gather.

One year ago, Hank was cold and alone—a stray pup who had wandered into the Brewers’ Spring Training facility looking for a place to sleep. Days later, Hank not only had found a family in the Brewers organization, but he had become an Internet sensation who was loved all around the world…

By the end of the year, he had helped raise over $130,000 for the Humane Society… On Thursday night, the pup finished his magical year with the airing of the World Dog Awards… ...Read More...

The District Attorney Posted: January 16, 2015 at 11:46 AM | 12 comment(s)
  Beats: brewers

red sox - Red Sox banking clubhouse culture won’t go south - WEEI | Rob Bradford

Here’s a pretty good article about chemistry with an interesting perspective on the clubhouse dynamic between Spanish and English speaking players.

“With non-English-speaking players, they try to learn English as quickly as possible or shy away from it immediately,” he said. “The American players either really see an effort that they are trying to endear themselves, or they feel the Hispanics are sticking together and they feel they are alienating themselves. So the dynamic can be tricky. When ...

Appeals Court Rejects San Jose’s Anti-Trust Suit Against MLB

In a unanimous ruling, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected San Jose’s claims that baseball’s refusal to allow the A’s to move to a downtown ballpark violates federal antitrust laws. The appeals court concluded that baseball’s nearly century-old exemption from antitrust laws forecloses San Jose’s legal case.

“Like Casey,” 9th Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski wrote, “San Jose has struck out here.”

San Jose says it will appeal to the Supreme Court. ...Read More...

ESPN: Jonathan Lucroy To Washington

Milwaukee Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy is making an unexpected road trip to Washington. It has nothing to do with playing the Nationals. It’s not often that a ballplayer gets to attend a State of the Union address to Congress as the guest of a U.S. senator.

So when the office of Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin called with an invite to sit in on President Barack Obama’s speech next week as recognition for the All-Star’s charitable work, Lucroy accepted the opportunity.
.  .  .
A fan favorite ...

Boswell | Washington Nationals got a second baseman in Yunel Escobar, but did they get better?

General Manager Mike Rizzo always says he enters the offseason with Plan A to improve or fix the Nationals but with Plans B and C already mapped out in case his best hopes don’t materialize. Trading stellar setup man Tyler Clippard for Yunel Escobar, a 32-year-old shortstop showing signs of deterioration, in order to turn him into Washington’s next second baseman feels like Plan C.

Los Angeles man convicted of killing homeless ex-ballplayer who once played for Cleveland Indians

A 33-year-old man has been found guilty of killing former Cleveland Indians baseball player Rodney Craig when both men were homeless in downtown Los Angeles.

Jurors convicted Billy Morales on Thursday of second-degree murder and he could get 16 years to life in prison.
Deputy District Attorney Jacqueline Mac said the 55-year-old Craig had been living on the streets and tried to stay at a homeless encampment in August but was kicked out by others living there.

Mac says Craig tried to kick a ...

MLB’s Bud Selig is in position to give parting gift to scouts charity - LA Times

“The scouts are among the most underappreciated part of the game of baseball, so what Dennis has done with his foundation and dinner is just so right. That’s why I come,” Selig said. “What Dennis has done for them is remarkable.”

The Infinite Baseball Card Set: Mysterious Mitchell: His Name Says It All

The man stated that he was a professional pitcher and wanted to play for the Seals. It was quickly evident that this was not going to be an ordinary contract negotiation. When pressed on his credentials, the man stated that his name and previous occupation wasn’t anyone’s business. As long as he made good on the mound he need not reveal anything about himself…..The new-comer pitched 5 innings before leaving the game with a 6-2 lead and the victory. Six days later he faced the Tigers again and ...

Deal of a lifetime, or Milwaukee marketing ploy?

PreservedFish asked, “What would have to occur in order to make this a good investment?” Well…

The Brewers are offering, for the (perhaps) low, low price of $1,000, a Timeless Ticket, redeemable for any Brewers regular season or postseason game in 2015 or any year beyond…

the ticket that you bought for $1,000 is worth $723 if you have 30 years to use it. It’€™s worth $923 if you have 50 years. Or maybe it’€™s $537 if you have 15 years… What’€™s in the fine print appears to be where the ...

FIP: A more advanced look at top pitching prospects | MiLB.com News | The Official Site of Minor League Baseball

FIPing minor league pitchers!

Zobrist in Oakland | Articles | Bill James Online

Dave Fleming looks at the A’s and Ben Zobrist.

Wait — the Mets are charging players to attend offseason workouts? Really?

If this is true — and given that Barwis himself is telling people that minor leaguers are paying him, there’s a good chance it is — it’s simply awful. As we’ve discussed an awful lot around here, minor leaguers make peanuts for the most part. And yet the Mets are, allegedly, requiring them to shell out for their own training and, subtly or otherwise, communicating that there is a penalty for not attending the sessions.

Murray Chass on Baseball: BONDS YES, CLEMENS NO; BONDS NO, CLEMENS YES

MURRAY YES, CHASS NO; MURRAY NO, CHASS YES.

To give Clemens a four-vote margin over Bonds there had to be at least five other ballots with Clemens checked but not Bonds. As of early Thursday morning, 230 ballots had been published, meaning the other “split” ballots were among the 319 non-published ballots.

Alan Robinson, formerly of the Associated Press in Pittsburgh, where I began my career, and Barry Rozner of the Daily Herald in Arlington Heights, Ill., voted for Bonds but not Clemens. ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 1-15-2015

Pittsburgh Press, January 15, 1915:

Cleveland sporting writers gathered with officials of the local American league club to decide on a new name for the Naps. The sale of “Nap” Lajoie to the Athletics necessitates the move. Suggested names are: “Colts,” “Black Sox,” “Bucks,” “Hustlers,” and “Grays.”

All of the above would have been fine by me. One wonders what the Black Sox scandal would have been called if that name had already been taken. ...Read More...

The win-now and win-later windows around baseball - SBNation.com

To recap, this is a plot with two axes. The x axis runs from “likely not contending” to “almost certainly contending.” The y axis runs from “lots of young talent” to “aging.” The definition of young talent is weighted more toward players in the upper minors and (especially) on the active roster, but organizational rankings are included, too. The definition of “contending” is based on a complicated formula that I’ve used for years:

[(BT) + .(3 * sV) + (.03 * ab)] * 6 or 7, idk

In which “BT” ...

Pitching Grandpa Tries Out With Orioles

They say he’s in the best shape of his life!

Hendrickson, 40, may be getting up there in years — as evidenced by the fact that he became a grandfather last fall — but after the left-hander put up some pretty decent numbers in the Independent Atlantic League with the York Revolution last year (1.54 ERA in 55 appearances), he wants to give it yet another go.

Nationals To Acquire Yunel Escobar

Not a Bay Area guy, I guess…

The Nationals have reached an agreement to acquire shortstop Yunel Escobar from the A’s, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (Twitter link). He speculates that a swap of Escobar and Tyler Clippard was a possibility.

Escobar, of course, had only just been acquired by the Athletics this past weekend…

As for the Nationals, the acquisition opens a number of avenues. First and foremost is that Escobar simply supplants Danny Espinosa as the team’s second baseman… ...

Hal Steinbrenner has his payroll limits for Yankees - Newsday

Derek Jeter is not coming through that door! But Arod is!

“There’s just a certain amount I’m going to go,” the Yankees’ managing general partner said Wednesday at the MLB owners meetings. “You all know my opinions about payroll. Where you should be and where you really don’t need to be to win championships.”

Where the Yankees are now is at roughly $209 million, behind only the Dodgers ($264 million) for the biggest payroll in baseball. And Steinbrenner is the latest—not to mention the highest ...

MLB trying to pick up pace of play - ESPN

Baloney.

“The thing that gets me about all this,” said Orioles manager Buck Showalter, “is that there are only two groups of people I hear consistently complain about the pace of games, and that’s the umpires and the media, people who are at the game 162 times a year. But that family of four in the stands, those people who come to three games a year, I don’t hear them complaining about the length or the pace of games. So what’s the endgame we’re trying to get to? ... What are we basing this on?” ...Read More...

Jim Furtado Posted: January 14, 2015 at 05:46 PM | 38 comment(s)
  Beats: rules of play

A longtime umpire’s battle with endless hardships. | SportsonEarth.com : Anthony Castrovince

A story of going on.

Astros To Acquire Evan Gattis

Oh, Rio, Rio, dance away from the Rio Grande.

The Astros have reportedly agreed to acquire Braves catcher/outfielder Evan Gattis. In return, Atlanta will acquire a trio of prospects: righties Michael Foltynewicz and Andrew Thurman as well as third baseman Rio Ruiz.

For Houston, it is not entirely clear how the team would use Gattis… Gattis stepped things up with a .263/.317/.493 line and 22 long balls last year in 401 turns at bat.

Of course, Gattis also comes with an attractive contractual ...

Royals, Ned Yost agree to one-year contract extension: ‘That’s all I wanted,’ he says

The longest-tenured manager in Kansas City Royals history wound through the terrain of Georgia on Tuesday afternoon, headed for a familiar destination. Earlier in the day, the Royals solidified his standing in the organization in the form of a contract extension through 2016. Now he was bound for his friend Jeff Foxworthy’s property to indulge in the final days of deer-hunting season.