A baseball scout and his hotel room: A love story spanning four decades

The more things change the more they stay the same.

Scott Kingery and the Problem of the Prisoner’s Dilemma | FanGraphs Baseball

Never listen to the people.

There are two things in baseball that really pique my interest: rules and things that have never happened before. The Kingery extension is an example of the latter. This is something new, and that makes it interesting. What makes it doubly interesting is how my Twitter feed populated immediately after news of this deal had percolated through the interwebs for a time. People seemed to have one of two reactions:

1) Kingery signed a below-market deal just to avoid ...

Albert Belle Arrested for DUI and Indecent Exposure:  Whereabouts of Chris Truby Unknown

Former MLB player Albert Belle was arrested Sunday at a Diamondbacks spring training game at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale, Ariz., as reported by FOX 10. According to arrest records from the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, Belle was charged with two counts of indecent exposure and two counts of DUI.

Tangotiger Blog: Shift v NoShift Preliminary Statcast Research

Don’t have time right now to read this right now. It looks interesting, though.

2018 MLB Trade Value Rankings - Sportsnet.ca

Jonah Keri takes over the rankings. Today are the people who missed the Top 50.

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 3-26-2018

Oklahoma City Times, March 26, 1918:

“Cy” Williams, former Cub star, has quit baseball, and for good, he says. He wired President Baker of the Phillies that he had returned his contract unsigned and that no further negotiations would do any good…The player has an extensive farm in northern Wisconsin which he intends to take active management of himself. He left for the north last night.

The number of players who “quit baseball” to “work on their farm” circa 1918 is remarkable. Much like most of ...

A’s may not want to stay at the Coliseum. But just in case, they want to buy it

The Oakland A’s are pitching a sweeping offer to the city and Alameda County: The team wants to buy the entire Coliseum site.

That includes the stadium where the A’s have played since 1968, the arena soon to be vacated by the Warriors, the parking lot — everything.

“We think the best way to guarantee our long-term viability and success in Oakland is to own our own home,” A’s President Dave Kaval told us.

Many city officials have pointed out that the Coliseum site already has the ...

OTP 2018 March 26: He struck out at baseball, but made it big in politics. Now he’s returned to his first love

In 1937, a group of standouts from the Negro baseball league, as it was known, was lured to the Dominican Republic for a barnstorming tournament against the country’s home-grown talent. Soon enough, the sun-and-fun adventure became a life-and-death proposition; the competition, it turned out, was for the benefit of the homicidal dictator Rafael Trujillo. The instruction given the visiting all-stars was simple: “You better win.”

While baseball is at the heart of the book, “The Pitcher ...

Rosenthal: Why Altuve’s deal makes sense; Boras gives his side; stop worrying about Ohtani; more notes – The Athletic

Glad to see Robothal back on the beat.

*Will Boras adjust his frequent strategy of waiting out the market in future off-seasons after the practice appeared to backfire with some of his 2017-18 free agents?

I had not even finished the question when Boras started to answer.

“Everyone talks to me about waiting. I’m talking about offers. We didn’t get any offers on these players until February. There was no waiting. There were no offers made. The clubs all waited to begin this process until ...

Rays Make Roster Cuts, Nearing Final 25-Man Roster

Most notably, they informed Dan Jennings and Daniel Hudson that they would not make the 25-man roster.  The Rays have said that they plan on having resolution for the two players within 24-48 hours.

Scott Kingery signs 6-year deal with Phillies | MLB.com

The Phillies and Kingery signed a six-year, $24 million contract Sunday that will carry him through the 2023 season and includes club options for ‘24-‘26 that could make the deal worth $65 million, a source told MLB.com. If Kingery becomes a superstar like the Phillies believe he will, it will be a marvelous, club-friendly deal. Kingery, meanwhile, just became set for life. Kingery’s teammates? They believe they just got a whole lot closer to their postseason dreams.

Rupp sent out to make room for Drew Hutchison on Phillies Roster

Remember Drew Hutchison? He’s back. In NRI/long reliever form. Giving the Phillies two long relievers, along with Mark Leiter Jr. This on a team that is also expected to have a short bench, making an unnecessary choice between Roman Quinn and Jesmuel Valentin for the last spot. The obsession with relievers only gets worse.

Sad to see Rupp go after 4 1/2 seasons dating back to when there were still World Series winners all over the squad, but Andrew Knapp has been better than expected (his ...

Alex Cora Has Had an Eye Opening Few Days

“It was good, man,” Cora said. “That experience last year, I needed that. For however prepared I was without coaching a full season in the big leagues, in that position, those conversations were going to be awkward. It was natural. I don’t know if you guys notice, we have a couch there now in the office to make it more casual. It was a good conversation. He was honest. I was honest. And we move on. And he’s in a good place.”

Short but somewhat interesting story about Alex Cora dealing ...

Madison Bumgarner injury: ‘Horrible news’ for Giants as X-rays reveal fractured left hand

Bum hand.

The Giants’ hopes of a major bounce-back this season have taken a major blow in the past few days, specifically to the rotation. Earlier this week, we learned No. 3 starter Jeff Samardzija will begin the season on the disabled list due to a strained pec muscle. That news was nothing compared to this: Madison Bumgarner has a fractured left hand.

Minorleaguers to lose minimum wage protection

Minor league baseball players who make as little as $5,500 a season were stripped of the protection of federal minimum wage laws under a provision in government spending legislation signed Friday.

NY POST - Kerber: Wilmer Flores becoming the Mets’ human version of Spackle

For Russlan:

PORT ST. LUCIE — It was Friday. Or Wilmer Flores gets to play first base day.

And don’t confuse it with the other days of the week, such as Wilmer goes to the outfield day, or Wilmer plays on the left side of the infield day. The Mets’ human version of Spackle — you got a hole, he can fill it and look good with a little buffing — is thankful Wilmer catches or pitches days never make the calendar.

But Flores’ versatility that allows him to play anywhere in the infield ...

Leitch: Baseball’s Very Tepid Offseason Is Finally Over

When a player is finally in a position to sell himself on the market, he’s often already in decline. Which is how it came to pass that of the 25 highest-paid players in baseball last season — all of whom were, at one point, high-dollar free agents — almost one-third weren’t even average ballplayers. The worst player in baseball last year, according to FanGraphs, was Albert Pujols, who made $26 million — and is still under contract for four more seasons, for which he will be paid ...

‘Roberto was our brother’: Dave Parker recalls first Pirates spring training after Clemente’s death

Roberto Clemente was more than a humanitarian, more than our spiritual team leader, more than a baseball angel. Roberto was our brother, and I never experienced a life shock this close to me. I started getting phone calls from friends and family, asking whether I heard what happened. Sometimes people want to connect with you over a tragedy, be there for you, and it’s genuine and all, but sometimes you just need to sit down by yourself and process what happened.

.....

They had me playing ...

Miguel Cabrera calls most of his teammates ‘bro’ because he doesn’t know their names

“I say, ‘Hey, bro. What’s up, bro?’”

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 3-23-2018

Washington Times, March 23, 1918:

So many of the small minor leagues in the Middle West have disbanded or temporarily suspended operations for the period of the war that there are now only a few organizations in the vicinity of St. Louis to which major league clubs can farm out young players.

In view of this, [Branch] Rickey has conceived the idea of organizing a team which he will enter in the justly celebrated “Muny” League of St. Louis, and independent professional circuit that has municipal ...

Ken Brett two-way phenom | MLB.com

My father raved about Ken Brett. I didn’t get it then, but now that I’ve watched so many hyped phenoms burn out, I get it now. Watching Frank Tanana was the first for me.

A change to his swing and approach at the plate could put Daniel Vogelbach on the Mariners’ opening day roster | The Seattle Times

Another member of the revolution?

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 3-22-2018

Washington Times, March 22, 1918:

[Reds catcher Harry Smith describes an attempted triple steal:] “We had a manager…who had an elegant set of signs, and one of them was the order to steal a base, made by tapping himself on the forehead with his right hand. One afternoon we had the bases full and none out in a most important game, when he gave the sign to steal. Nothing to do but obey, so everybody stole with the bases full. Of course, the cruel enemy rounded us up and made it a triple play. The ...

Camden Depot: Baseball Booms, Minor Leaguers Still Exploited

Some useful information about minor league pay is provided. I’ve mentioned it a few times that I blame the owners and the MLBPA. The players in particular understand the conditions of their siblings.

The Baseball Case For Sending Ronald Acuna Down

Shameless self promotion.

Who’s in Command Here?!?

If you tell me you expected to see Javier Vasquez among these names, you’re either a wizard or a liar.

Shohei Ohtani, Angels undaunted by rocky spring | USA Today

Ohtani will be on the Angels’ opening-day roster, two high-ranking Angels executives told USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity since no roster decisions need to be revealed until March 29. He’s tentatively scheduled to pitch their third game of the season, March 31, against the Athletics at Oakland Coliseum. He also is scheduled to be in their opening-day lineup as their starting DH.

Ohtani’s roster spot will come in spite of his unsightly 16.20 ERA in two spring-training ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 3-21-2018

Philadelphia Evening Public Ledger, March 21, 1918:

The ability to heave hand grenades has been oft mentioned as a point in favor of the ball player as a war prospect. Outfielders have been declared especially adapted for the peculiar heave required to effectively shoot the hot ones into the ranks of the foe. That there is a more important feature to the grenade business still is indicated by late reports which pronounce catching grenades of more importance than heaving them. The thing, it ...

Joe Musgrove gives up six runs in second Grapefruit League start | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Musgrove *looks* like he has the stuff to be effective.

“My ball just didn’t have anything on it,” Musgrove said. “I had a hard time breaking 92 [mph] out there. But I feel good. I don’t feel like I’m hanging it all right now. I feel like I had another inning in me, or two.”

Manager Clint Hurdle agreed with Musgrove’s assessment.

“The two-seamer, when it was down, was really good,” Hurdle said. “The fastball command overall was probably inconsistent. I thought he used his ...

Free agent Alex Cobb, Orioles have 4-year deal

It’s official. Is it enough to make the O’s contenders?