Matt Kemp’s arthritic hips hold up deal with Padres

UPDATE: John Heyman reports, “Holdup on Kemp deal was for SD to work out insurance. All good now.”
This could be a huge problem.

The San Diego Padres are trying to decide whether to finalize or void their blockbuster trade for Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp after his physical revealed severe arthritis in both hips, a person familiar with the diagnosis told USA TODAY Sports.

The person spoke to USA TODAY only on the condition of anonymity since he was not authorized to discuss the ...

Saint Pete City Council Tells Rays NYET!

The Havana Rays has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?

The City Council of St. Petersburg has denied a deal that would allow the Rays to look outside the City of St. Petersburg for a new stadium location.

Kennedy then also questioned why the Rays should maintain 50% of redevelopment rights for Tropicana Field if they chose to leave. This appeared to be a strong sticking point to the Council, given their inability to renegotiate with the team on the proposed to deal.

In good faith, Kennedy ...

The 4 surprisingly quiet teams of the MLB offseason

Perhaps the best move is….not to play.

Baltimore Orioles

Dammit, Orioles.

For the third straight offseason—and I didn’t really check the offseasons before that, either—the Orioles made it through the Winter Meetings without a major move. So far, it’s Wesley Wright and only Wesley Wright, and that just happened. Nick Markakis is gone. Delmon Young is gone. Cruz is with the Mariners. As of now, the top first baseman on their depth chart is Christian Walker, who had a .335 on-base percentage in ...

Royals sign Kris Medlen to two-year deal - MLB Daily Dish

Ken Rosenthal reports, “Medlen two-year deal with #Royals worth $8.5M - $2M, $5.5M plus $10M mutual option with $1M buyout if either party declines.”

How Will MLB Handle Big Changes With Cuba? - BaseballAmerica.com

BA’s Ben Badler writes about Cuba.

Posnanski: The Royals Celebration Tour

Never take “We’ll owe you a favor” for an answer. Ask CM Punk!

I’m beginning to wonder if the Royals just gave us that incredible postseason run last year so that they could spend the next few years trolling us with the sorts of signings that used to make them baseball’s laughing stock…

I can’t in good conscience do anything but grumble quietly. The Royals were a Bumgarner away form a World Series victory. I wish they wouldn’t celebrate that magical season by paying way too much money ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 12-18-2014

Rock Island Argus, December 18, 1914:

Naming of Clarence Rowland, manager last year of the Peoria Three-Eye league club, as head of the White Sox for the coming year has caused a profound sensation in Chicago baseball circles. Discussing the subject the Chicago Tribune today says…
...
“Rowland’s previous experience has been with teams in smaller leagues, where his success has been such as to attract the attention of the master of the White Sox, who began his career in Dubuque before the new ...

Opening of Relations Could Bring Cuban Stars to Major League Baseball

At one point Wednesday, Major League Baseball became so concerned about the reaction to Obama’s announcement that it sent a directive to its 30 teams pointing out that it remained illegal to scout players in Cuba, or to sign them, because the American embargo of the island remained in effect. Obama cannot lift the embargo on his own, and a Congress that will be fully controlled by Republicans starting in January is unlikely to go along with the idea, at least any time soon.

Source: Myers to Padres in 11-player deal with Rays, Nats | MLB.com

This is a trade that may work out for all three teams.

Royals sign Edinson Volquez for two years, $20 million

What a world we live in. Edinson Volquez, who was released by the San Diego Padres 16 months ago, and then had a decent bounce-back season in Pittsburgh in 2014, is set to make $20 million over the next two seasons.

The Kansas City Royals have reportedly signed Volquez, according to Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish, sticking him in their starting rotation along with Yordano Ventura, Danny Duffy, Jason Vargas and Jeremy Guthrie.

MLBTR: Padres-Rays-Nationals Agree to Three-Team Trade

Young outfielder Wil Myers will head to San Diego as the centerpiece of the trade, and indeed the entire pact will depend upon the health of his balky wrist, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports notes on Twitter. San Diego receives righty Gerardo Reyes and lefty Jose Castillo from Tampa as well. The Rays, in return, will receive Burch Smith and Jake Bauers. And the Pads and Rays will also swap catchers Ryan Hanigan and Rene Rivera.

Much of Tampa’s haul, however, will come from another source: the ...

Morosi - Effects of US Shift on Cuba Policy

Don’t make me wish I’d chosen an “off-topic politics” tag for this thread!!

“The near (term) future baseball relationships will be with Japan. I don’t think Cuba is ready to hand over its baseball to MLB.”

Even if the Cuban government allowed U.S. sports franchises that level of autonomy, MLB clubs would want to see if an international draft is instituted under the next collective bargaining agreement before making infrastructure investments. The notion of a MLB-affiliated franchise in ...

AZCentral: Miley’s Preparation Apparently an Issue for DBacks

AZ FO taking a page from the Red Sox playbook?

Miley doesn’t think there is anything wrong with his diet and believes his work ethic is where it needs to be. He admits it wasn’t always that way.

“My first couple of years going into camp, I hunted more than I worked out,” Miley said. “It was kind of a wake up call.”

...

Miley said he didn’t want to go into specifics about his diet but did make a passing reference about not being gluten free. He said he wished the team were more willing to ...

Will the United States’ new Cuba policy benefit Cuban baseball players?

“Mr. Burns, I think we can trust the President of Cuba.”

In August, Eliezer Lazo pleaded guilty to extortion charges stemming from his role in smuggling more than 1,000 Cubans into the U.S., including Rangers outfielder Leonys Martin. A lawsuit against Martin argued that he agreed to pay 35 percent of his MLB earnings to the human traffickers who brought him stateside. On Tuesday, according to an ESPN report, Gilberto Suarez pleaded guilty to alien smuggling charges for his role in bringing ...

NY Judge Gives MASN Partial Edge In Nationals Dispute

NEW YORK — A New York Supreme Court granted partial discovery Monday to Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, forcing Major League Baseball to hand over documents relating to the long-standing dispute over the Washington Nationals’ regional television rights fees. MASN, which is majority controlled by the Baltimore Orioles, had been seeking documents detailing incoming MLB commissioner Rob Manfred’s involvement with a arbitration panel that ruled this summer that MASN should pay the Nationals more ...

Are Wil Myers’ flaws fixable? | FOX Sports

Maybe he’s not as good as prospect evaluators thought.

So what’s the deal? Why is a promising young talent like Myers about to join his third organization before turning 25? Is there a concern about his future that has caused teams to sour on him more quickly than we’d expect, given his performance and pedigree? Let’s take a look under the hood and see if we can identify any potential red flags.

“You Are F——d”: Breaking down the first-year candidates on the Hall of Fame ballot (Sports Illustrated)

I was asking Martinez what it felt like on the days when he knew he had his best stuff. He motioned toward home plate and told me those are the days when the distance between the mound and the plate seemed to be shortened. And then a mischievous smile came over his face. “Then,” he said, “you are f——d.”

Indians sign Gavin Floyd to deal

Right-hander Gavin Floyd has agreed to a $4 million, one-year contract with the Cleveland Indians, giving him a chance to make a comeback from his latest elbow surgery.

The deal, announced Tuesday, allows him to earn an additional $6 million in performance bonuses.

The 31-year-old broke a bone in his elbow while throwing a curveball with Atlanta last June. He had surgery and couldn’t resume throwing until after the season. That injury occurred during his ninth start since returning from Tommy ...

Orioles agree to one-year deal with LHP Wesley Wright, pending physical, source says

They got the Wright guy.

The Orioles have agreed to terms with left-handed reliever Wesley Wright on a one-year deal, pending a physical, according to an industry source.

Wright, who will turn 30 in January, was nontendered by the Chicago Cubs earlier this month after going 0-3 with a 3.17 ERA in 48 1/3 innings in 2014. He made $1.425 million last season.

Wright has held left-handed hitters to a .238 batting average in his seven-year career. Last season, left-handed hitters batted .273 ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 12-17-2014

Grand Forks Daily Herald, December 17, 1914:

One interesting fact about John Evers never has been known except to his intimate friends has become public property through his illness. This is that John is inordinately fond of candy.

“Evers has eaten so much candy and for so many years that his stomach is in pretty bad shape as a result of pneumonia,” said Dr. Herrity. “His wife tells me it was a common thing for him to start the day with a pound of candy for breakfast and to keep nibbling sweets ...

New York Mets Top 20 Prospects for 2015

We’ve had a run of good farm systems here: the Cubs, then the Rangers, and now the Mets. This farm system is in very good condition and continues to steadily improve.

One sign of a farm system with healthy depth: after the obvious top guys, it becomes very difficult to rank the huge amount of Grade C+ talent.

The big strength is pitching. Noah Syndergaard is one of the top pitching prospects in the game. Steven Matz is another Top 50 pitching prospect and his success is a testament to the ...

Nitkowski: Pirates drive the bus over the Marlins

Wait, we’re supposed to be mad at Coonelly here??

We looked at the Giancarlo Stanton mega-contract with suspicious eyes… Well, Pirates president Frank Coonelly spilled the beans to Rob Biertempfel of Trib Live:

“(Coonelly) talked about an exchange he had with Miami Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria and president David Samson during the recent owner’s meetings.

“‘They thought it was a great deal,’ Coonelly said. ‘I just couldn’t get my head around the $325 million. They said to me, ‘You don’t ...

Cooperstown vote: The Ron Chimelis ballot

Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz, Randy Johnson, Craig Biggio, Tim Raines, Fred McGriff, Mike Mussina, Jeff Bagwell, Mike Piazza.

Chimelis also voted last year. Piazza picked up spots on his ballot along with the three new guys, taking the spots of Morris and the three guys who were elected last year. Last year I emailed Chimelis presenting the case of Piazza and he wrote a response to me, so he may take fan emails into consideration (he mentioned in his response that he had received a lot of other ...

The Dan Shaughnessy Hall Of Fame Ballot

The sure messy Dan Shaughnessy HOF Ballot (6): P. Martinez, R. Johnson, Smoltz, Schilling, Raines, and Trammell.

This means I am not voting for (among others on the ballot), Craig Biggio, Edgar Martinez, Fred McGriff, Mike Mussina, Larry Walker, Lee Smith, Carlos Delgado, and Nomar Garciaparra. Oh, and I also am not voting for Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, Gary Sheffield, Mike Piazza, and Jeff Bagwell.

L.A. Times: Dodgers designate Brian Wilson for assignment

Chavez Ravine largesse for everybody!

Think it’s not a very different world under the Dodgers’ new management team? Then you’d better hitch up the britches and get ready for an entirely new kind of wild ride.

Tuesday the Dodgers designated Brian Wilson for assignment.

That would be the right-handed reliever who is owed $10 million next season. This after the Dodgers sent $10 million to the Marlins to cover Dan Haren’s salary, $32 million to the Padres for a portion of Matt Kemp’s ...

NatStros Palm Beach County Spring Training Site Negotiations

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s empty lot.

Palm Beach County voted Tuesday to continue negotiations and potentially make an unsolicited offer to the city of West Palm Beach for a land swap that could give the Nationals and Astros the needed site for a two-team spring training facility.

Pitching-deficient Yankees re-sign Chris Capuano

In a move about desperation, depth or both, the Yankees reached agreement Tuesday with Chris Capuano on a one-year, $5 million contract.

Capuano was a stopgap measure when the Yankees obtained him last July 24, and nothing has really changed. He would be in the rotation in 2015 for the same reasons he was in 2014 – because so much had gone wrong.

Actually, that is already the case. Capuano is currently part of a group with David Phelps and Adam Warren that will be in contention for the Nos. ...

Rays trade Matt Joyce to Angels in exchange for Kevin Jepsen

The Rays traded outfielder Matt Joyce to the Angels on Tuesday in exchange for reliever Kevin Jepsen….

Joyce, who was an All-Star in 2011, spent six of his seven seasons in the majors with Tampa Bay. He heads to Los Angeles with a .250/.342/.441/.783 slash line in 725 career games. Joyce has a .104 average, one home run and seven RBI in 19 games at Angel Stadium.

Jepsen is 13-18 with a 3.94 ERA over seven seasons for the Angels. He had a career-high 75 strikeouts in 65 innings in 2014, ...

Jed Lowrie signing: Looking back at the Astros trade that sent Lowrie to Oakland

A good analysis of a “win-win” trade. Houston is going to end up with more total value from the Lowrie trade, but the A’s got value concentrated in two years when it helped them reach the playoffs.

Padres Sign Brandon Morrow

The sun will come up to Morrow.

The San Diego Padres have agreed to terms with free agent right-hander Brandon Morrow on a one-year deal, an industry source told Sportsnet.

Morrow will earn a base salary of $2.5 million plus incentives, according to Corey Brock of MLB.com, who first reported the deal. After years in the American League East, Morrow will now pitch one of the National League’s most pitcher-friendly stadiums, Petco Park.

Morrow, who pitched for the Blue Jays from 2010-2014, ...