Hall-Of-Fame Careers That Cooperstown Never Gave The Time Of Day | FiveThirtyEight

It’s a JAWS Fest!

Tim Tebow’s no circus act: He’s a real Mets prospect

There are plenty of sound business reasons why it would have been wise anyway to keep Tebow away from Citi Field as some kind of marketing ploy, beginning with the very credibility of the franchise, which is supposed to be in the business of developing baseball players, not carnival barkers.

But now the Mets have the best reason of all to forget about that.

What if Tebow really is what these last 27 games and 87 at-bats have hinted at? In the Florida State League, the most advanced level of ...

Ketel Marte Inside the Park HR,  JD Martinez 2 homer day for D Backs

Red Sox Rafael Devers homers for first MLB hit | MLB.com

STOP THE PRESSES!!!

Twins-Dodgers game delayed over double switch | MLB.com

Strategery!

“It was just one of those things where there was a little confusion in where initially the pitcher spot in the double switch was at,” Roberts said. “A player that was supposed to be out of the game was still in the game, and I just wanted to get clarity and make sure that the pitcher was in the right spot.”

The Cooperstown Casebook: The Hall of Fame’s Origins, And How Third Base Got Put In A Corner | SI

Another excerpt from Cooperstown Casebook.

Winners? Losers? At baseball’s bonkers trade deadline, nobody really knows

2. One trading partner might be more motivated to make a deal than the other.

In the offseason, even a rebuilding team can justify keeping its players, knowing that they’ll have another chance to cash in at the trade deadline (and that they might sell some season tickets in the meantime). But the Tigers, pretty much out of contention and about to see Martinez hit free agency, had almost no choice but to move him.

They could have tried waiting to see if another buyer emerged—either because ...

Olney: Trade Sonny Gray to Yankees, as time is right for big markets to get their ace

When the Yankees made their big trade last week for Tommy Kahnle, David Robertson and Todd Frazier, the rationale was to acquire pitchers who can help them beyond 2017. This is true for Gray, as well. He would help their chances of making the playoffs this year and of winning in the postseason, as Gray is known as a big-stage performer after his strong October showing against the Tigers as a rookie. And he would also help the Yankees’ chances in 2018 and 2019, before he finally reaches free ...

Danny Tartabull Detained by Police 5 Years After Warrant Was Issued for Arrest

Former Major League Baseball outfielder Danny Tartabull was arrested by police on a 2012 warrant for unpaid child support.

Per TMZ Sports, police caught Tartabull on July 24 after “he called police himself to report that his car had been broken into near his apartment in Agoura, CA.”

Jacob Glucksman, Tartabull’s attorney, told TMZ he was working to secure his client’s release from custody.

Tartabull pleaded no contest and received probation in 2011 for charges of failing to pay child ...

Run, hit, catch: Bradley Zimmer showing Cleveland Indians he has the tools do it all | cleveland.com

A true five-tool player.

OMNICHATTER da vida, honey, don’t you know that I still love you, for July 26, 2017

Verdugo hits wacky homer, plates four | MiLB.com News

Zach Borenstein’s baseball legacy.

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 7-26-2017

Pittsburgh Press, July 26, 1917:

As far as is known, Pitcher John Miljus of the Brooklyn club is the first major leaguer to be called to the colors via the draft route. Miljus…was ordered yesterday to present himself for examination tomorrow morning.

Strange that the first big leaguer to be drafted to serve in WWI would be known as “The Big Serb”.

In other news on the same page of the Pittsburgh Press, White Sox first baseman Chick Gandil has filed bankruptcy. I think I know a way Gandil can ...

The Man Who Brought Sabermetrics to Japanese Baseball

An interesting look at Japan’s version of Bill James.

Versatile Asdrubal Cabrera’s trade value rising; Yoenis Cespedes homers in win | Newsday

They both want him out of town?

“We’re on the same page,” Cabrera said after making his third career start at third base in Tuesday’s 6-5 win against the Padres.

Red Sox reach deal on trade for Eduardo Nunez | MLB.com

The Red Sox added a right-handed bat with defensive versatility on Tuesday night, acquiring Eduardo Nunez from the San Francisco Giants for two Minor League pitchers.

The Red Sox are sending Minor League right-handers Shaun Anderson (their 18th-ranked prospect) and Gregory Santos to the Giants for Nunez, who could fill a few roles for Boston given his ability to play third, short and the corner outfield.

Heyman | Mets Likely To Promote Shortstop Amed Rosario Soon

With the Mets luck this year…

Two weeks later he gets DL’d “with a minor leg injury”. Two months later his leg gets amputated.

Top prospect Amed Rosario may be called up soon by the New York Mets, with a source telling FanRag Sports that the team may call him up from Triple-A Las Vegas in a week or so.

Ken Rosenthal - Cubs and Verlander

Here’s something interesting you might know about the Cubs: Their luxury-tax number for 2018 is $74.6 million, leaving them more than under $120 million under the threshold, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts.
So, if the Cubs want to pursue Tigers right-hander Justin Verlander – one of perhaps 20 trade options they are considering, according to major-league sources – they’ve got the financial flexibility to pull off such a move.

If we nibble around the edges, we can make this OMNICHATTER last, for July 25, 2017

Olney: Some GMs like to deal with each other—and some don’t - Buster Olney Blog- ESPN

No Jerry Dipoto mention?

The Cooperstown Casebook Is a Crowning Compendium – The Hardball Times

He likes it! I’m behind my reading but whenever I get caught up, I’ll be buying this book. Here’s an excerpt in you need more incentive to dig into your pocket.

I love to have books like this that I can refer back to. My copies of The New Bill James Historical Abstract and The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers are never far from reach. The Cooperstown Casebook is in league with these books. You could draw parallels also to yearly books like the Baseball Prospectus Annual, The Hardball Times Baseball ...

Bellinger homer gives 30-year-old rookie win in MLB debut - LA Times

On the first day of life without Clayton Kershaw, rookie Cody Bellinger put the Dodgers on his shoulders. With the Dodgers five outs from a defeat, Bellinger hit his 28th home run, a three-run shot that powered the team to a 6-4 victory Monday over the Minnesota Twins.

The crowd chanted for a curtain call. Bellinger obliged, with a nudge from Enrique Hernandez.

Update: Here’s the video.

Texas Rangers Reaction sees 3,000 in Beltre’s near future | Fort Worth Star-Telegram

2993 and counting.

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 7-25-2017

Honolulu Star-Bulletin, July 25, 1917:

Mention in the news that their baseball experience makes Pershing’s men quick to learn the trick of the hand grenade is a reminder of the time the champion baseball thrower of Honolulu stopped a revolution here with two well-aimed bombs at the old bungalow in the palace yard.

Well, that certainly led me down a rabbit hole. The revolution in question was the 1889 Wilcox rebellion and there’s more information about the baseball aspect of the story here. ...Read More...

Mets giving sizzling rookie a shot in Zack Wheeler’s place | New York Post

On Monday the Mets right-hander was placed on the disabled list for the second time this season, as he deals with soreness in his humerus bone. Wheeler was previously on the DL last month with biceps tendinitis.

“I am not going to be dumb and try to push something I think would hurt me after missing two full seasons — that would be stupid,” said Wheeler, who missed 2015 and ’16 while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.

Chris Flexen will be promoted from Double-A Binghamton on Thursday ...

Royals Acquire Cahill, Maurer, Buchter from Padres

I like a good “gimme all your guys” trade.

Royals send back Travis Wood, Matt Strahm, and an a-ball IF

With injuries piling up, will the Nationals need to change their deadline strategy? - The Washington Post

Not another one.

But Sunday, the shock of Strasburg’s early departure, and the nebulous “forearm stiffness” that caused it, affirmed a disturbing reality. For as easily as the Nationals have built this lead in the National League East, they are one or two injuries away from being another elite team that fell short in the end. With a week until the trade deadline, will they alter their plans accordingly?

Dealing For Further-Away Prospects An Emerging Trend | BaseballAmerica.com

At the rate baseball is going, by 2020 teams will be signing international prospects on July 2 and trading them on July 3.

In the never-ending attempts to find an edge, the 2017 trade deadline has shown a developing pattern. Teams are willing to dig deeper into the furthest recesses of farm systems in an attempt to land a bargain.

Already a full one-fifth of Baseball America’s 2016 Top 20 Dominican Summer League Prospects list has swapped teams. Royals middle infielder Esteury Ruiz became ...

Texas Rangers ready to move ace Yu Darvish in ‘right deal’

He said; he said.

Sources told ESPN.com that Rangers general manager Jon Daniels began calling potential suitors Monday and telling them the team is open to trading Darvish for the “right deal.” If no team offers a return package to the Rangers’ liking, Daniels has informed clubs that Texas will hold onto Darvish and continue to make a push in the American League wild card race.

The latest development appears to be the Rangers’ most declarative statement yet on Darvish, who instantly becomes ...

Pitchers Are (Slowly) Adapting To The Home Run Spike | FiveThirtyEight

But for every hole in the zone that the league’s batters close, another one opens. “It goes in waves, the pitching changes its philosophy, and the hitting changes up, and the pitching adjusts, and on and on,” Baker said. With batters adopting uppercut swings to generate loft even on low pitches, it stands to reason that pitchers could go even higher in response. Previous research has shown that when a fly-ball hitter meets a high strike, the result is often a popup or weak contact. I ...