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 ...

Mark Trumbo’s last seven hits have been home runs, as he just can’t stop launching Trum-bombs | MLB.com

Trum-bombs?

With this, Trumbo became the first Oriole to have home runs on seven straight hits. The MLB record is 11 straight, set by Mark McGwire in 2001, and nobody else has more than eight to his name.

Dodgers smash seven home runs to beat Reds | MLB.com

For all the criticism the Dodgers front office has received, they have consistently put a playoff caliber team on the field.

If the Dodgers’ bats came alive in Sunday’s win, they were downright perky on Monday. With seven home runs, including four slugged during the top of the fifth inning, Los Angeles took a wild 18-9 victory over the Reds to gain a split of their four-game series.

Adrian Gonzalez did the most damage with three homers and a career-high eight RBIs, including a three-run shot in ...

A’s clubhouse fight: Danny Valencia, Billy Butler altercation details

After the rep departed, the players said, Valencia confronted Butler and told him, “Don’t you ever loud talk me in front of a rep. That was wrong,” and walked aggressively toward Butler. Butler turned around, took a couple steps toward Valencia, and according to both witnesses, said, “I can say whatever I want and your b— ass isn’t going to do anything about it.”

One player said that the men leaned in, bumped heads and then started pushing each other, Valencia started swinging ...

Stephen Strasburg on DL, right elbow soreness | MLB.com

Let’s not even imagine what his arm will be like near the end of his contract.

How to Solve a Problem Like the Diamondbacks | FanGraphs Baseball

I haven’t liked most of the stuff the Diamondbacks have done in La Russa’s time but firing them now says more about the owner’s problems than the La Russa and Stewart front office.

In a rare case of agreement, I’m actually with LaRussa and Stewart on the idea that they shouldn’t be fired simply because the team performed badly in 2016. The results of one season, whether positive or negative, don’t provide enough information about the quality of the decisions made, and especially not the ...

MiLB announces Class A realignment | MiLB.com News | The Official Site of Minor League Baseball

Minor League Baseball today announced the Class A Advanced Carolina League will add two teams for the 2017 season as part of a broader realignment at that level of play. The California League’s Bakersfield Blaze and High Desert Mavericks will cease operations at the completion of the 2016 season.

The 2017 season will see a return of professional baseball to Kinston, North Carolina. Kinston served as the home of Carolina League clubs from 1956-57, 1962-74 and 1978-2011. Several locations are ...

Vince Velasquez and the Flukiest Games Ever Pitched

“Kill the Win” indeed. And it should be in honor of Vern Law.

“After 18 innings of grit and guile, an exhausted Law was lifted from the game. Bob Friend was brought in to start 19th. Friend promptly gave up a run—and the lead—on two hits and a walk. The Pirates scored two in the bottom of the 19th to take the game, giving Friend “the win.” A friend indeed.”

Gordo: Depleted Cardinals turning negatives into positives | Jeff Gordon | stltoday.com

The Cardinals keep on plugging away.

The Good The Bad And The Ugly Of Michael Kopech

That fastball. It’s arguably the best in the minor leagues, and it is certainly the fastest. He hit 105 miles per hour in his third start off the disabled list, and now constantly hits in the high-90s. It’s fair to think that he is getting by with his fastball alone, but his secondary offerings are also improved.

His slider was once mediocre with inconsistent control, but like his fastball, it has become a pitch that has some power behind it. He lands his slider in the low-90s, and a 90 ...

A real vacation might benefit Jason Heyward more

If I were Joe Maddon, I would have made Jason Heyward take advantage of it while the Cubs were there. A day hike among a riot of wildflowers. A whitewater rafting trip. Some time atop a mountain that no hitting guru could scale. Maybe a tour of the state’s burgeoning herbal industry.

Instead, the manager kept his struggling hitter in the dugout for the three-game series against the Rockies in Denver. Actually, describing Heyward as “struggling’’ might imply that he has known something ...

OMNICHATTER 8-22-16

The “Olympics are Done” OMNICHATTER

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 8-22-2016

Topeka State Journal, August 22, 1916:

The Philadelphia Athletics, for many years the idols of the game, have provoked much mirth this season and are now preparing to finish the race the worst last we have had for a long time.
...
It may sound queer to many, but as the season begins to sight its close Connie Mack is expressing satisfaction with the team he has been training this summer.
...
“By next year I expect to have a club that will be a big factor in the pennant race, and within two years ...

OTP 2016 August 22: Baseball has much to teach us about politics

On this day in 1870, pitcher Fred Goldsmith demonstrated to baseball writer and historian Henry Chadwick that the curve ball is real. And the world was never the same.

The New Haven Register, Goldsmith’s hometown newspaper, wrote about the event recently.

“No game was scheduled this particular day, but a large crowd, curious to the proceedings, began to gather,” the Register reported. “[Goldsmith’s friend Ham] Avery, the story goes, drew a 45-foot line in chalk. He then hammered ...

St. Louis Cardinals’ Brandon Moss enjoying proving haters wrong - St Louis Cardinals- ESPN

“I had a bad year last year and I was coming off a hip surgery, and everybody wants to look at you like your career is done and you can’t do it anymore,” Moss said. “I wanted to tell them, ‘Hey man, pump the brakes a little bit. I’m fighting though a lot of things here.’

“You get tired of the constant questions about it. You’re going out there and fighting every single day to be the best for your team and your teammates that you can possibly be. Everyone in the room knows that you’re ...

Mets Insider: Steven Matz to see team doctors - NY Daily News

Update (8/22/2016 3:10 PM EDT): Shoulder stain and rotator cuff irritation.

Shoulder not elbow. Ugh.

The Mets are still hopeful to have Steven Matz this week for their crucial series with the Cardinals. The Long Island lefty was heading to New York Sunday night to have his shoulder examined by team doctors Monday.

The Mets are holding his next scheduled start open for him, listing their starter for Thursday’s finale against the Cardinals as “TBA,” until they hear the diagnosis.

Yulieski Gurriel makes Astros, MLB debut | MLB.com

Not ideal.

It was a dream more than 15 years—plus nearly five hours—in the making, but borders and politics always stood in the way. Yulieski Gurriel, at 32 years old, knew he was running short on time if he wanted to reach the pinnacle of the sport and play in the big leagues, which is why he took a chance and defected from Cuba with his brother earlier this year.

Gurriel, who defected following the Caribbean Series in February and signed with the Astros in July for $47.5 million, finally ...

Darryl Strawberry leading fight to help Doc Gooden save his life - NY Daily News

What a sad story.