Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 11-8-2013

Pittsburgh Gazette Times, November 8, 1913:

The drafting season has not ended yet. What if Uncle Sam should put in drafts for a few stars to play in the threatened post-season engagement in Mexico?

The world was less than a year away from a war that would eventually impact MLB, but it wasn’t in Mexico.

BA: Sano, Buxton Winter Seasons Cut Short by Injury

And Twins’ fans everywhere (hello Aaron Gleeman) cringe!

On the heels of a dispiriting 96-loss season in the American League, the Twins now feel the sting of injuries to two of the game’s premier prospects. The organization believes neither injury is serious, however.

Third baseman Miguel Sano won’t play the remainder of the Dominican League season because of a strained collateral ligament in his right elbow. He appeared in two games for the Estrellas and went 1-for-5 with four walks and ...

Interactive World Series Probability Added Chart

With Mr. Cameron’s permissions, I combined FanGraphs’ win probability data with my World Series projections and developed an interactive World Series Probability Chart.

Some insights:
*  David Ortiz was indeed the MVP (with a whopping 0.368 WSPA)
*  But Lester made a pretty compelling case (0.223 WSPA)
*  Johnny Gomes’ Game Four dinger was the biggest play and the turning point (0.165 WSPA)
*  Molina was the Cardinal who contributed the most (0.112 WSPA)
*  The Sox overcame losing nearly ...

Lamster: Can the Doomed Astrodome Save Modernism?

This ain’t the Modernism world that I’ve learnt about!

Earlier this week, Houston voters declined to fund a bond initiative to renovate the Astrodome, meaning the landmark bubble known as the Eight Wonder of the World is likely to be demolished. It’s a bitter pill. The historical significance of the building as the first multipurpose domed stadium is considerable, and its various innovations are remarkable testaments to the outsized, can-do spirit that defined America generally and Texas in ...

Moore: Sure-thing Hall of Famers fill Expansion Era ballot

Including Dave Concepcion…

The same goes for Concepcion, who was more than just the starting shortstop on a Big Red Machine team that dominated much of the 1970s. Before Concepcion’s career, Major League shortstops were mostly one dimensional—all-field, little-hit, not much of anything else. After Concepcion’s career, you had Cal Ripken Jr., Barry Larkin, Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and the rest, because during Concepcion’s career, he showed everybody that shortstops could field, hit and run. ...Read More...

Repoz Posted: November 07, 2013 at 12:27 PM | 44 comment(s)
  Beats: history, hof

CBSSports.com Lays Off Two Baseball Writers

Sure…makes things even tougher for my 2014 HOF Ballot Collecting Gizmo.

Continuing with a small purge that began this summer, CBSSports.com on Wednesday laid off two of its national baseball writers. A source confirmed those writers were Scott Miller and Danny Knobler.

Our source attributed the layoffs to “some bottom-line stuff” made “at the behest of some people outside the building.” CBSSports.com had made other job cuts over the summer for the same reason, the source added. NFL writer ...

Go to Hell Mike Piazza

In 2001, hot on the heels of major hits There’s Something About Mary and Meet the Parents, Ben Stiller became arguably the biggest comedic movie star going. In the heat of this success, Stiller almost made a movie called Go to Hell, Mike Piazza, in which he would have played a guy who’s hellbent on ruining the life of the famous MLB catcher, who he grew up with – and Mike Piazza was close to co-starring in the movie as himself.

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 11-7-2013

El Paso Herald, November 7, 1913:

Walter Johnson says that all the news about new fangled curves and mysteries is nonsense. Johnson says that it was the spitball which ruined the wings of Russell Ford and Ed Walsh...Johnson declares that he never tries to monkey with a new curve, but depends on delivering slow and fast balls with the same amount of action in them.

Of course, that’s a whole lot easier when you’re the fastest pitcher on the planet.

NFL’s Ace Parker, The Hall Of Fame’s Only Centenarian, Dies

Football Hall of Famer and Major Leaguer dies at 101.

Here’s what we can tell you. He was an all-America tailback at Duke. He played for Connie Mack’s Philadelphia Athletics* for two years, and hit one of his two Major League home runs in his first at-bat. But what made him special, even for the two-way days of the early NFL, was his ability to do all the things that anyone does in football.

MLB’s top hitters earn Silver Slugger Awards | MLB.com: News

2013 SILVER SLUGGER WINNERS:

National League

1B: Paul Goldschmidt, ARI (.302, 36 HRs, 125 RBIs)
2B: Matt Carpenter, STL (.318, 11 HRs, 78 RBIs)
SS: Ian Desmond, WAS (.280, 20 HRs, 80 RBIs)
3B: Pedro Alvarez, PIT (.233, 36 HRs, 100 RBIs)
C: Yadier Molina, STL (.319, 12 HRs, 80 RBIs)
OF: Jay Bruce, CIN (.262, 30 HRs, 109 RBIs)
OF: Michael Cuddyer, COL (.331, 20 HRs, 84 RBIs)
OF: Andrew McCutchen, PIT (.317, 21 HRs, 84 RBIs)
P: Zack Greinke, LAD (.328, 0 HRs, 4 RBIs)

American League

1B: Chris ...

Rick Renteria to be named Cubs manager

Rick Renteria, who served the last two seasons as bench coach for the San Diego Padres, will be named Thursday to succeed the fired Dale Sveum as Chicago Cubs manager, the Tribune confirmed.

Renteria, 51, has spent the past six seasons as a coach with the Padres and fits numerous qualifications that Cubs team President Theo Epstein sought after firing Sveum on Sept. 30.

I have no initial impressions, but I’m glad the search is finally over.

Baseball America: 2014 Washington Nationals Top 10 Prospects

And still no info on James Kocoloski…

TOP 10 PROSPECTS
1. Lucas Giolito, rhp
2. A.J. Cole, rhp
3. Brian Goodwin, of
4. Matt Skole, 1b/3b
5. Robbie Ray, lhp
6. Sammy Solis, lhp
7. Michael Taylor, of
8. Jake Johansen, rhp
9. Nate Karns, rhp
10. Steven Souza, of

After sending numerous young stars to the big leagues in recent years, Washington’s farm system has been left somewhat depleted. The return of righthander A.J. Cole—traded away in the Gio Gonzalez deal but re-acquired from the ...

TSN: PED associations shouldn’t keep Tony La Russa out of Hall of Fame

Bullshiit…La Russa didn’t hit .199 for his career without a little help!

It was in St. Louis that McGwire’s use of androstenedione came to light, but long before that, La Russa managed the A’s when McGwire and Jose Canseco led the Bash Brothers to three straight American League pennants. In 1989, Oakland swept the San Francisco Giants to make La Russa a World Series-winning manager, a feat that he repeated in St. Louis in 2006 and 2011.

Those last two championships came after Major ...

Zolecki (MLB.com) -  New hire to help Phils better utilize advanced stats

The Phils’ front office believes it took a step in the right direction recently when it hired Scott Freedman from Major League Baseball’s Labor Relations Department, where he has worked on salary arbitration cases, provided financial guidance to teams and gained a deep knowledge of advanced metrics.

“He’s going to help us explore more thoroughly what the options are for using these metrics,” assistant general manager Scott Proefrock said Tuesday. “We’re looking at them to ...

30 For 30 Shorts: The Schedule Makers

So, who manages all of this? For almost a quarter-century it was the husband-and-wife duo of Henry and Holly Stephenson, two math and computer whizzes who did it all with nothing but a pencil and a piece of paper. This film is the story of how the Stephensons landed their first MLB contract and became The Schedule Makers.

This is the sort of thing that, if I didn’t already know about it, I would think was totally made up.

Mike Napoli free agent rumors: Orioles, Mariners interested - Over the Monster

I would be surprised to see Napoli leave Boston.

The Red Sox signed Mike Napoli to a one-year deal last winter, setting them up to deal with contract negotiations with the first baseman once more in this year’s free agency. They have submitted the qualifying offer to him, guaranteeing them a compensation pick should he sign elsewhere—it’s a good thing, as both the Orioles and Mariners are reportedly interested in signing Napoli.

Anna Benson pleads guilty to attack on estranged husband.

MARIETTA, Ga. — Anna Benson has played many roles over the past 10 years — reality TV star, wife of former MLB pitcher Kris Benson, model — but her role on Tuesday morning as “Cobb County Jail Inmate L” was mostly one of whispering detachment.

Introducing the Interactive Spray Chart Tool | FanGraphs Baseball

Good stuff from Bill Petti.

I’ve been working on an interactive tool that allows you to create spray charts using Game Day data from the past two years for a few weeks now. I’ve always loved the Katron Batted Ball tool, and it’s been a great resource of mine for years. However, I wanted to put something together that was a bit more interactive, allowed for more filtering, and made side-by-side comparisons easier.

The 20-80 Scouting Scale, Translated to Wins | FanGraphs Baseball

This is something which I’ve always been interested in seeing, a sabermetric scouting report. It’s not perfect but it’s a nice first step. Hopefully Fangraphs will find a way to incorporate something like this on their player pages.

Recently, for the electronic pages of Baseball America, Therron Brockish provided a scouting report from the Arizona Fall League on Boston third-base prospect Garin Cecchini. As part of that report, Brockish graded each of Cecchini’s tools on the 20-80 scale (or ...

AP: Houston votes against Astrodome

After Texas voters on Tuesday rejected a referendum that would have authorized up to $217 million in bonds to turn the Astrodome into a giant convention and event center, the stadium is likely to be demolished.

“We can’t allow the once-proud Astrodome to sit like a rusting ship in the middle of a parking lot. This was the best effort (to revamp the stadium), and voters have turned it down,” Harris County Judge Ed Emmett said. Fifty-three percent voted against the referendum.

Emmett said ...

NCAA hopes new baseball can reverse dip in offense

The NCAA has decided to switch from a ball with raised seams to a flat-seamed ball that is very similar to that used in the minors.

The 2013 CWS statistics reflected what happened during the season. Entering the CWS the national batting average of .274 was the lowest since 1975 (.273), team scoring of 5.28 runs a game was the lowest since 1973 (5.07) and team home runs per game of 0.42 was lowest since 1973 (0.42).

Washington State researchers found that flat-seamed balls launched at a ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 11-6-2013

Pittsburgh Press, November 6, 1913:

Questioned as to the correctness of a statement printed today that he is to be the next president of the National Baseball league, [Pennsylvania] Gov. John K. Tener, said:

“The nature of your query surprises me. I am in no sense a candidate for the presidency of the National league, hence it would be foolish for me to discuss the subject.”

Tener was elected the league president almost exactly one month later.

Charlie Monfort, Rockies owner, arrested on DUI charges

This is our beer (or whatever)...loving owner!

Charlie Monfort, co-owner of the Rockies, on Monday was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence in Windsor, according to court records.

The 54-year-old Monfort was released Tuesday afternoon on a $2,500 bond. He is scheduled to be arraigned in Weld County court Nov. 19.

Monfort was also cited for driving 10-19 miles per hour over the speed limit, court records reveal.

Monfort, who lives in Greeley, has been the Rockies’ managing ...

Evan Brunell enjoyed ride as Fenway datacaster

Evan Brunell, Cory Schwartz, Hank Widmer, Andy Andres…move over Who’s Who in the DC Universe!

Evan Brunell has been there for some of the Boston Red Sox’ defining moments over their three World Series runs this past decade, but he’s about ready to retire from professional baseball — for now.

One of Brunell’s bosses, Cory Schwartz, the vice president of statistics at MLB Advanced Media, insists Brunell would be welcomed back anytime he’d like to return as one of the datacasters hired by ...

Minor League Free Agents 2013

First-round picks from the 2007 draft who aren’t on 40-man rosters qualify for minor league free agency for the first time this offseason. The list includes, in order of selection six years ago, first baseman Matt LaPorta (Indians), reliever Casey Weathers (Cubs), third baseman Kevin Ahrens (Blue Jays), righthander Tim Alderson (Orioles), lefty Nick Schmidt (Rockies) and righty James Simmons (Athletics).

BBWAA announces finalists for four major awards

Could be worse.

Awards will be announced next week with daily announcement shows at 6 p.m. ET on MLB Network, beginning with Rookie of the Year awards on Monday, Managers of the Year on Nov. 12, Cy Youngs on Nov. 13 and MVPs on Nov. 14. Voting was conducted by BBWAA members prior to the end of the regular season, so postseason performances do not count.

Here are the finalists as announced Tuesday on MLB Network, each category listed in alphabetical order:

AL MVP: Miguel Cabrera, Chris Davis, ...

Heyman: Yankees inquire about Brandon Phillips; price said to be very steep

And it should be for the MVP of the league uhh team uhh…

The Yankees, looking to set themselves up in case star second baseman Robinson Cano signs elsewhere, have checked in with the Reds regarding Brandon Phillips and also asked about free-agent second baseman Omar Infante.

Phillips is said to be available in the right trade, but word is, the initial price is way too steep. Of course, that’s the way the Yankees look at Cano’s $300 million asking price, as well.

Phillips batted .261 with 103 ...

Mariners choose Lloyd McClendon for next manager

The Seattle Mariners have settled on Detroit Tigers hitting coach Lloyd McClendon for the ballclub’s next manager, the M’s announced Tuesday.
Lloyd McClendon Detroit Tigers

McClendon, 54, was the only candidate among Seattle’s reported interviewees with previous experience as a full-time big-league manager. He managed in Pittsburgh from 2001 to 2005, and then was mostly known across the rest of the major leagues for his base-stealing tirade as the Pirates floundered in mediocrity.

He ...

Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2014: MLBTradeRumors.com

Very good stuff.

As explained in this series of posts, Matt Swartz has developed a very accurate model for MLBTR to project arbitration salaries.  We’ve heard from many MLB teams and agencies that reference the projections in their work.  By my count there are 214 remaining arbitration eligible players.  Click here to download an Excel spreadsheet with our projected salaries, or click below to see everything.  For thoughts on each arbitration player, click the team name to see the associated ...

Axisa: What Went Wrong: Ichiro Suzuki

Phew!...Glad to see they fixed that dastardly I-Fail mistake on Wiki!

It doesn’t happen often, but every once in a while a move will work out exactly the way I expected it to work out. The Ichiro Suzuki re-signing was one of those moves. It was a terrible signing at the time (two years!!!) and it looks just as terrible today. Those three great weeks at the end of last season were a total mirage — the Magic of the Pinstripes™ failed Ichiro miserably in 2013. He looked old and washed up ...