Joel Sherman: Solving the Mets’ defensive nightmare before it gets worse

[... This season] the Mets were fourth worst in the majors in turning balls put into play into outs. Tacitly, there may be a cascading negativity. One member of the team told me he thought pitchers were impacted in pitch selection and how they attacked hitters because they were concerned in letting the ball be put in play.

Fangraphs has the Mets as the majors’ worst overall defensive team. The stats corroborate the eyeball test when it comes to this team and fielding. [...]

Amed Rosario is the new Ruben Tejada — every season the Mets will say this is the key one to prove what kind of player he will be, and this exercise will go on for years. Rosario is still just 23. But the growth on both sides of the ball is coming begrudgingly, ...

Decade by decade, baseball trades becoming more and more analytical

The specifics of how teams assign value to players is closely guarded, but there are some rough guidelines to keep in mind as the bartering plays out.

Performance-measuring systems like Wins Above Replacement, or WAR, offer a quick estimate of how much value a player is providing. A win is worth about $9 million in the game right now, so Mike Trout, for example, who’s already delivered 5.6 WAR this season as calculated by Baseball Reference, has provided the Los Angeles Angels with $50.4 million of value this year. Against his $36.8-million salary, he’s already provided $13.6 million worth of surplus value.

Now, teams have projection models for how a player can be expected to perform over time – again, these vary in calculation and ...

Carlos Carrasco diagnosed with leukemia

Last night, in a snippet of an interview Carrasco gave to Frank Camilo of Dominican Republic news network CDN 37, Carrasco says that he has been diagnosed with leukemia.

The full interview will air Sunday afternoon, but the video below is being shared now. It’s in Spanish, but in it Carrasco says that after having problems with his energy level, he underwent tests that revealed abnormally high platelet levels and was diagnosed with leukemia shortly after. Carrasco said the condition is currently “under control,” though what that means in a medical sense is unclear:

Former MLB commish Bud Selig on Barry Bonds, F-bombs and baseball’s image

SELIG: That we were slow to react on steroids. That’s just wrong. And I know people said, even when I got in the Hall of Fame, there was some young writers, I remember I talked to a couple of them. They hadn’t covered it. They just were like, you should’ve done this and that. And when I said to them, “It’s a subject of collective bargaining. The commissioner doesn’t have the unilateral power.” They said, “Oh, really?” And so that’s why I was very blunt in the book.

SN: That’s one of the subjects I wanted to talk with you about. On page 196, you admit that because of the economic issues that were facing baseball, you are more focused on that than steroids and PEDs. When you look at that in hindsight, do you wish that you would have pushed ...

Loverro: Expos Legacy Has No Place At Nationals Park. No Place At All

I can only speak to this anecdotally, but a number of times at Nationals Park, particularly after it opened in 2008, many instances of meeting middle-aged men with their fathers, who had grown up watching the Senators as far back as Griffith Stadium, and were now sharing these moments of the return of baseball to Washington. Sometimes I would see three generations, all connected by baseball in Washington — a remarkable scene, considering that there was no baseball in the city for 34 years.

That’s the passion that is the story of baseball in Washington.

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 7-5-2019

Chicago Eagle, July 5, 1919:

In a recent game between the Agana and Sumay [United States Marines stationed in Guam], running through 15 innings, the last four innings were played by the light of a full moon rising over the palms which border the plaza. In a game played by moonlight almost anything is likely to happen. Manion of Sumay started things for his team when he mailed a ball in the post office through a hole in the screen of one of the windows. The Agana fielder was unable to recover it without violating section H20 of the local postal regulations and the Sumay boys walked home with the bacon.

It would have taken an impressive amount of foresight to have set ground rules for balls hit through the screen in the post office window.

Mets Still Pondering Trade Deadline Approach - MLB Trade Rumors

It’s time to sell.

NYT: Bud Selig: By the Book

What’s the best book about baseball?

There are many excellent books about our national pastime, but a couple that come to mind are “The Boys of Summer,” by Roger Kahn, and “Summer of ’49,” by David Halberstam. They are both classics. Kahn tells the remarkable story of the Brooklyn Dodgers during the 1950s — the days of Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, Duke Snider and others: how they triumphed and the effect the club had on America. The author, Roger Kahn, was a sportswriter who covered the Dodgers during those days. And Halberstam tells an equally remarkable story, primarily about the pennant race between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox that wasn’t determined until the very end of the season. The book reminds me of ...

OMNICHATTER for the July 4th Holiday, July 4-7, 2019

Baseball’s off-season could benefit from a little TMZ-like coverage | The Star

The sky is not falling for free agents.

38-2

Worst loss, well, at least most lopsided, I’ve ever taken was a 56-0 beating in an international tournament game against the Singapore team.

And I pitched most of it, I shudder to think of my pitch count, I’m surprised I still have a right arm attached.

Half way through, the Singapore coach made all of his hitters turn around and hit from the opposite side.

Now to give us some small solace, we were all 10-11 and the rules were loose enough that the kids we were playing against were probably 13-14.

We kept thinking ... why does that dude have hair on his face?

Tommy La Stella injury update: Angels All-Star has broken leg | Sporting News

Tommy La Stella will be sidelined for at least two months.

The Angels infielder underwent a CT scan Wednesday, which revealed a broken right leg. He will be out for 8-10 weeks, according to the team. La Stella fouled a ball off his right shin in the sixth inning of Tuesday’s 9-4 win against the Rangers and had to be helped off the field.

OMNICHATTER for July 3, 2019

Baseball, Judgment, and Technocracy

(Alan) Jacobs, a life-long fan, explained why the game was losing its hold on him. Chiefly, it amounted to the triumph of fine-grained analytics dictating team strategy. As Jacobs succinctly put it, “Strangely enough, baseball was better when we knew less about the most effective way to play it.”

This paradoxical point, with which I tend to agree, raises an interesting question. By way of getting to that question, I’ll first recall for us Heidegger’s distinction between what is correct and what is true. What is correct may not yet be true, in part because it may be incomplete and thus potentially if not actually misleading. Perhaps we might similarly distinguish, along the lines of Jacobs’s analysis, between what is correct and ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 7-3-2019

Philadelphia Evening Public Ledger, July 3, 1919:

“If I was Mack, I’d tell them guys,” piped the guy in the brown derby, “there ain’t no baseball law, written or unwritten, that prevents them from winnin’ more than two games in a row.”
...
Babe Ruth wants to know if the national prohibition law applies to the American League.

Not much baseball news in the papers of July 3, 1919, as everybody was getting hyped up for the Dempsey-Willard championship fight on July 4.

While Rays pull Rays things, fans left to wallow in embarrassment

Trevor, a University of Florida student who was born and raised in Tampa, said it’s just hard to be a Rays fan, even when they’re winning.

“There was a period from 2008-2010 when everyone was diehard Rays fans,” he said, “but then they got rid of the manager and fired all the players.” Even if that’s not quite right — baseball teams rarely fire their players — it’s indicative of the perception in Tampa Bay that the Rays’ desire to win while sticking to their self-imposed budget trumps their desire to field a team of exciting talent. It’s why they were one of the teams that Players Association filed a grievance against last year for failing to spend sufficiently.

This last point is key. Some people have argued that ...

OMNICHATTER for July 2, 2019

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 7-2-2019

Washington Times, July 2, 1919:

The New York Yankees…are performing at the famous Polo Grounds in the metropolis for their last season. This became known today when advices from New York told of the amitious plans being made by the New York National League club for the improvement of the property.
...
The owners of the Yankees…will have to rustle around and find new quarters before the 1920 campaign gets under way. This move was threatened five years ago, the entrance of the Federal League into the world of baseball causing a postponement.
...
The Giants feel that, after going to great expense of making the Polo Grounds the ideal baseball field in the metropolis, they should be permitted to enjoy it by themselves.

The Yankees got a ...

The Yankees Are About To Sign a 16 Year Old Superstar Who Is Being Compared To God, Mike Trout, and Mickey Mantle - Barstool Sports

Tomorrow is a special day in the history of mankind. It’s the day Jasson Dominguez becomes a New York Yankee. I normally wouldn’t write a White Sox Dave-esque blog about a prospect because I know you guys don’t really care, BUT Jasson Dominguez might actually be the best baseball prospect in the history of the sport. He is what I like to call a God Child. And no, I will not stand for those saying there’s no way he’s 16 and that he’s actually 25. Brian Cashman is a good man with good values. Also, the rest of baseball better hope he’s 25 because if he’s actually 16 he’s still growing into his body and has limitless potential.

Pirates slugger Josh Bell bashes three homers in rout of Cubs

“Bell is pumped for the chance to step into the batter’s box and swing for the fences with everyone in baseball watching”<

Josh Bell has gotten little ink this year compared to Yelich and Bellinger.  Maybe it’s been the need for bigger and bigger sample sizes to validate his regular season performance, or maybe it’s because those other two’s rate stats were otherworldly for so long.

Half a season in, Bell is on pace for 112 extra base hits.  No way, right? 

Or ... ?

Mets sorry for having 2 living alums in memorial

Mets being Mets.

Twitter: MLB issued a statement about the death of Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs.

Sad news.

MLB issued a statement about the death of Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs. pic.twitter.com/Kz5kYvHgOt

— Yahoo Sports MLB (@MLByahoosports) July 1, 2019

OMNICHATTER! always demands the player option, for July 1, 2019

Brian Cashman not giving up hope on Luis Severino returning in 2019

Asked if Severino would be back this year, Cashman remains encouraged.

“No, there’s still time for that. It just makes me wonder, obviously, when we’re going to get the lat right,’’ the GM said. “It’s just not healed yet, but it’s close. But it’s unfortunate that he needs more time.”

According to Boone, a scheduled MRI exam this past week showed the lat was almost healed but soreness in the area resulted in Severino being scratched from a bullpen session.

“He had a little bit of soreness and we held off a little bit. He re-MRI-ed which is what we wanted to do before he got back on the mound. He is about 90 percent healed so we kind of slowed it down,’’ Boone said. “He will probably be throwing again, ...

The Yankees’ brilliance is reaching ridiculous levels

By the time they were done with two games — which lasted a combined 9 hours and 6 minutes, needed 796 pitches to complete, encompassed 50 runs on 65 hits on a turf that played quickly and alleys that welcomed extra-base hits, and extensive foul territory that evoked the unexpected and blinding sun that peeked through the overhang that looped London Stadium — the Yankees had not only won the first MLB games played on this continent, but had furthered galvanized the thought that there is magic about them.

Red Sox’ Alex Cora in awe of Yankees’ Carlos Beltran

“I was joking with somebody that their biggest free-agent acquisition is [special adviser] Carlos Beltran. I know how he works. He’s helped them a lot. They’re very into details, and we have to clean our details. It was eye-opening, the last two days, from top to bottom.

“I’m not saying devices, all that stuff. It’s just stuff that the game will dictate. And we’ll scream at people, and it’s right there. Throughout the evening, I was looking, and I saw it. And right now they’re doing a lot better than us. So we need to get better.”

Asked specifically whether his pitchers, who got battered for 29 runs and 32 hits over these two games, were tipping what was coming, Cora said, “This weekend, we did everything. We tipped ...

Red Sox owner John Henry gives idea of Red Sox’ approach at Major League Baseball trade deadline | WEEI

And as frustrating as the two games against the Yankees might have been Saturday and Sunday, in which the Red Sox were outscored 29-21 in two losses, it is Henry’s team’s overall lot in life that offers the true frustration. That much was clear when the Sox’ owner spoke with WEEI.com on the London Stadium field just prior to the series opener.

“I don’t feel good about the way we’ve played thus far,” said Henry prior to seeing his team fall 11 games in back of the first-place Yankees.

Then when asked if the approach heading into July has to still be to wait and see what transpires over the next few weeks, he was quick with his response, “We’ve been waiting and seeing. It’s not wait and see. It’s ‘you expect to pick it up’ in the ...

2019 All-Stars by league, position | MLB.com

The complete teams.

OT - Catch-All Pop Culture Extravaganza (July 2019)

No summer doldrums this month — not when there’s a Sundance breakout drama, a new Pagan horror movie from the guy who gave you Hereditary and Quentin Tarantino’s valentine to old-school Sixties Tinseltown on the horizon.

St. Pete’s futile history with the Rays

Tampa Bay Rays owner Stu Sternberg is at odds with St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman. It isn’t the first time the Rays and City Hall have been far apart. Will it be the last?