Amaro not terribly concerned about Cole Hamels

Cozy Cole : Big Noise From…Clearwater.

So, what about Hamels?

The pitcher said he wouldn’t be able to make his second straight Opening Day start after battling soreness when rebooting his throwing program in November. But he’s also confident he’ll be in the rotation in early April.

Amaro’s concern? The GM was asked to rate it on the scale of 1-through-10 on Thursday morning.

“Two,” Amaro said.

Why?

“He had a little bit of tendinitis,” Amaro said. “We were just very cautious with him in ...

MLB Owners Voted to Allow Teams to Cut Pensions of Non-Players

Major League Baseball owners, despite earning more than $8 billion in revenue in 2013, voted in January to allow individual teams to slash or eliminate pension-plan offerings to their non-uniformed personnel….

A source told ESPNNewYork.com that Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf chastised owners for being petty with the lives of ordinary people during an earlier attempt to pass this plan.

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 2-13-2014

Pittsburgh Press, February 13, 1914:

The baseball rules committee held an informal session and agreed to some rather important changes in the playing code. Hereafter a coacher will not be allowed to touch a runner rounding their base. If he does the runner is out. Heretofore coachers have been allowed to run out into the field and stop runners and literally carry them back to the base.

I’d pay money to watch Wendell Kim attempt to pick a running David Ortiz up off the ground and carry him to ...

Schoenfield: A few notes on Derek Jeter’s defense

Hey, at least it’s not Jeter is a Douche.

This come up in our Spreecast from today on Derek Jeter’s retirement, somebody insisting we point out that Jeter cost his team more runs on defense than any player in history. I just wanted to follow up on that a bit more.

That statement is arguably—or maybe inarguably, depending on your belief in defensive metrics—a true statement. According to Baseball-Reference.com, the players who cost their teams the most runs on defense over their careers ...

Jim Fregosi suffers stroke

Former major league manager Jim Fregosi suffered a stroke while on a Major League Baseball alumni cruise and has been hospitalized in the Cayman Islands, sources close to Fregosi said Wednesday.

Fregosi’s family currently is trying to make arrangements to fly him to Miami.

Fregosi, 71, currently serves as a special assistant to Atlanta Braves general manager Frank Wren. He managed 15 years in the majors with the California Angels, Chicago White Sox, Philadelphia Phillies and Toronto Blue ...

Ronny Paulino suspended 100 games for second PED-related offense

Catcher Ronny Paulino hasn’t played in the majors since 2012 and is currently with the Tigers as a minor-leaguer. Wednesday, Major League Baseball announced that he has been suspended for 100 games as a result of testing positive for exogenous Testosterone.

This is Paulino’s second offense, hence the 100-game ban instead of 50.

Derek Jeter to Retire After This Year

Announced on facebook. FA has link to post.

A.J. Burnett to Phillies

Burnett: How many more years…

The Philadelphia Phillies and pitcher A.J. Burnett reached an agreement Wednesday on a one-year deal worth $16 million, a source confirmed to ESPN.com.

Burnett and the Phillies have to work through some additional details before the deal will be announced, the source said.

The 37-year-old Burnett spent the past two seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates. The right-hander went 10-11 with a 3.30 ERA with team highs of 191 innings pitched and 209 strikeouts last ...

Keri/Grantland: Baseball’s Worst Contracts

A little schadenfreude is good for everyone.

Bad deals are inescapable in sports and pop culture. Endless, exorbitant, ridiculous contracts can destroy a team’s future, ensnare a rising young star, or cripple a major studio. Also, they’re hilarious. In honor of these horrible agreements, we present a look at some of the most egregious in their respective fields. Welcome to Worst Contracts Week.

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 2-12-2014

Pittsburgh Press, February 12, 1914:

...organized baseball was far from out of the woods today as a result of the muss kicked up by [Cubs owner] Charles Webb Murphy in firing Johnny Evers of the Chicago Cubs.
...
[National League] President Tener showed his size yesterday in thoroughly “spanking” Murphy, but the damage had been done, and reports today were that the American league was prepared to bring all possible pressure to bear on Tener to see that Murphy is eliminated.
...
How Murphy could ...

MLB to drop the lawsuit against Biogenesis, Bosch

“[N]ow that A-Rod has dropped his appeal and is accepting his suspension, Major League Baseball is going to drop the lawsuit it filed last March against Biogenesis, Anthony Bosch, Juan Carlos Nunez and multiple other defendants.

Which, of course, just continues to underscore how legally baseless a lawsuit that was and how its putative purpose — legal redress against drug dealers who caused damage to the league by enabling the breach of the Joint Drug Agreement an the Collective Bargaining ...

Bill James: Will Middlebrooks Primed For Monster Season With Red Sox

Our miss. Middlebrooks.

So, when James publishes his annual reference guide, with statistical data through the past season and projections for the next one, fans and executives alike tend to pick up a copy. And in this year’s edition of the Bill James Handbook, he predicts another 30-homer season for David Ortiz, 19 homers and an .807 OPS for rookie sensation Xander Bogaerts, and 14 wins for Jon Lester, none of which tests the limits of plausibility.

And then, there’s this: James pegs Will ...

Tracy McGrady ‘a presence’ on hill

“I also have Roger Clemens out here. What better person to have teaching you some things about pitching than Roger Clemens?”

Phrasing!

Nolan Ryan returns to Astros front office

The Ryan Express has landed back in Houston. The legendary Nolan Ryan has agreed to accept a position as a special assistant to Astros owner Jim Crane.

Although his duties aren’t nearly as demanding as they were with the Rangers from February 2008 until last October, Ryan’s return to the Astros is more intimate and personal because it provides the Hall of Famer an opportunity to help his eldest son rebuild the club.

“It would be a special and totally different than I have dealt with ...

Stairs and Moyer reportedly on deck for Phillies broadcast team

As Ruben fights the urge to offer each of them a 2-year major league deal…

Matt Stairs and Jamie Moyer are expected to be in the television broadcast booth for Philadelphia Phillies games this season, according to one report.

Dennis Deitch of the Delaware County (Pa.) Daily Times reported the news on Twitter. He also said it’s possible the former Phils players could platoon as analysts, each taking a few innings.

Albert Pujols drops defamation suit

Los Angeles Angels slugger Albert Pujols dropped a defamation lawsuit against Jack Clark on Monday after Clark issued a statement retracting his previous comments alleging that Pujols had used performance-enhancing drugs.

Astros seek one-day contract for Oswalt, Berkman

The Houston Astros confirmed Monday that the team is looking to sign one-day contracts with former stars Lance Berkman and Roy Oswalt so they can retire with the team.

“We love Lance, he’s one of the best Astros ever so we’re going to do whatever works for Lance and I think we have a day set aside already to honor him,” owner Jim Crane said. “

Berkman, who turns 38 on Monday, spent 12 season with the Astros hitting 326 homeruns. For his career, Berkman hit .293 with 366 homeruns and ...

Podcast: Gabe Kapler buys sabermetrics

Jeez…ya think BPro would have sprung for the $19.50.

My FOX Sports Team Report podcast chat with former MLB player and now FS1 MLB analyst, Gabe Kapler, was a conversation I’ve craved for years.  The evolution of sabermetrics has gained such steam and support over the last decade, I wanted a player’s opinions on whether or not those advanced metrics:

A) Should be embraced by the casual fan, are they and, if so, how?
B) Should be embraced by active players, are they and, if so, how?

In an ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 2-11-2014

Pittsburgh Press, February 11, 1914:

The retirement of Johnny Evers as manager of the Chicago Cubs jarred every magnate attending the war conference and annual meetings [in New York] today. Evers insists he was fired, and declares he will not play with the Cubs. [Cubs owner Charles] Murphy told the magnates his manager had resigned, and at his request Hank O’Day was relieved of his duty as an umpire and was then announced as Evers’ successor.

BULLETIN

James E. Gaffney, owner of the Boston ...

Hunter: Pro sports’ riches may take our best, brightest

“Gary Has A College Degree In Zoology”.

The sale of one of George Bellows’ paintings to the National Gallery in London for $25.5 million last week took me to a strange place. It is one where bright, talented young men don’t choose between a career in the arts, or science or medicine, and a professional sports career that might pay them enough to own an estate the size of Rhode Island.

The strapping Columbus native and Central High School graduate was an accomplished baseball and ...

Pete Rose: PEDs worse than gambling

Fit bit: PEDsometer off the chart.

As Pete Rose remains banned for betting on baseball during his years as a player and manager, the baseball legend believes those who take performance-enhancing drugs have sullied the game worse than he did.

“They’re both bad. I think in my case, I know I didn’t do anything to alter the statistics of baseball,” Rose said on “The Michael Kay Show” on ESPN 98.7 FM. “As you know, baseball statistics are sacred. That’s why baseball cards are worth more than ...

Rosenthal: Seven asked, seven answered: Baseball execs would sign a gay player

Baseball is ready for a Michael Sam.

How do I know? I asked seven executives on Monday if their team would sign a baseball version of Sam, the reigning co-SEC Defensive Player of the Year from Missouri who told several news outlets Sunday that he was gay.

All seven went on the record. And all seven said yes.

The reaction of the baseball executives came in stark contrast to an SI.com report that quoted eight unnamed NFL decision-makers as saying Sam’s announcement would cause him to drop in ...

Fairservice: Buster Posey, Hall of Fame?

Fairservice? Not if Murray Chass gets into the Giants locker room.

Those are impressive names, with Hall of Famers and soon to be Hall of Famers at every turn (and also Jason Kendall!) Buster Posey is on the fast track to “generational talent”, if we care about such things. The comparison to Mike Piazza is most telling, as Piazza never had the same defensive reputation as Posey, who is well-regarded for his pitch blocking, throwing and overall handling of his pitching staff.

Like Posey, ...

A World of His Own: Espn profile of Aroldis Chapman

“IT IS WELL past noon in the mansion they call the American Dream House, and the owner has yet to wake up. Half a dozen friends and relatives sit under an imported Italian chandelier in the living room, watching the hours pass on a silver-plated clock, waiting for Aroldis Chapman to come downstairs. House rules dictate that nobody disturbs him; it is Chapman’s $30 million contract that paid for this house, and it is his singular left arm that brought his family from a coastal province in Cuba ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 2-10-2014

Milwaukee Journal, February 10, 1914:

Don’t be surprised if next season, in an American league championship game, you see a pitcher wearing a patch over his left eye. Pug Cavet, purchased by the Tigers from the Mobile club of the Southern association, has lots of trouble with his left eye, and on August 13, last, he worked for the Sea Gulls against the Montgomery team wearing a big green patch. If Cavet’s eyesight had been perfect that afternoon, there is no telling how much glory he would have ...

BtBS: Kendall: Are pitchers getting better?

And the Seligs have won.

But, all of these trends are not without their confounding variables.

What if hitters are just getting worse? It’s entirely possible that there aren’t as many great hitters as there are great pitchers, or that the next generation of great hitters is just a few years behind this generation of great pitchers that has already started to blossom.

What if players are getting more athletic, resulting in faster fielders and more covered ground? Is it possible that, much ...

The offseason approach of thinking-man Breslow

Hey Bulldogs!
Hey Bulldogs! (okay…out of my system)

Breslow pores over scouting reports during the regular season. He examines the recent trends of opposing hitters. He sees what these batters have done over their past 10 games with runners on base vs. no runners, and early in games vs. late, and against fastballs vs. offspeed pitches.

But what does he do during the offseason?

Well, he examines his own trends.

“I make sure there’s no need for a complete overhaul,” he said recently.

...

Topkin: Analysts down on Rays’ farm system

Those rankings are subjective, snapshots based on arbitrary criteria. But for an organization with the objective to build through player development, it’s not an encouraging sign.

Rays executive VP Andrew Friedman didn’t totally disagree with the critical analysis.

“I think we have a lot of depth in our system,” he said. “I think the one area we’re probably not as good as we’d like it to be is in the elite kind of top-end talent, not having as many high-end guys as we would like. But I think ...

Coco Crisp staying with A’s

The Athletics have mutual strong feelings about their do-everything center fielder and speedy leadoff man, who is staying with the A’s for an additional two seasons after agreeing Friday to a new contract through 2016 that adds $22.75 million in guaranteed money.

Also a $13m option for 2017.

Schmuck: Not affording a free-agent pitcher like Bronson Arroyo could cost the Orioles

As Bronson Arroyo sails out of Baltimore…

The Orioles’ frustrating offseason got a little more frustrating Friday when the front office came up short in its pursuit of veteran pitcher Bronson Arroyo, who seemed to be the best fit of the remaining pitchers available in the free-agent market.

Maybe pursuit isn’t the right word, since the Orioles still seem to be playing hard to get just a few days before before pitchers and catchers report to spring training. Executive vice president Dan ...