Rays have the ultimate troll for visiting managers

In most visiting clubhouses, there’s not much personality. Bare walls, basic necessities, nothing to make the place feel like home. A manager’s office might feel like an empty box, devoid of any warmth. And why not, it’s not up to the home team to make the visitors feel too welcome.

The Rays decided to shake things up by providing a little art on the walls of the visiting manager’s office, a way to make managers feel right at home.

Cool thing they have in the visiting manager's ...

Alex Rodriguez has his very own arcade machine called the ‘A-RodCade’

It appears that Rodriguez has his very own custom arcade system, appropriately titled “A-RodCade.” We have a lot of questions—how long has A-Rod had this? Just who made it for him?—but most important, we need to know exactly what games the A-RodCade contains. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? NBA Jam? A version of Street Fighter featuring nothing but A-Rods? Stay tuned.

News you need to know.

20 years ago today: Greg Maddux threw a 76-pitch complete game

He had a cursory reputation.

Only 13 [pitches] were balls. He had six strikeouts. Not only did Maddux not walk anyone, he didn’t get into a single three-ball count all day. He only got two balls against a hitter twice — once in the second inning against Sammy Sosa and in the seventh against Mark Grace.

A sandwich is a sandwich, but OMNICHATTER is a meal! for the weekend of July 22-23, 2017

Yoenis Cespedes wants to finish career in Oakland - San Francisco Chronicle

“I wish that happens,” Céspedes said, adding “I told (former A’s and current Mets teammate Jerry) Blevins, ‘I don’t know how many years I’m going to play, but I’m going to play the last year of my career with Oakland.’ I don’t know if that’s possible or not, but that’s my goal.”

A series against the A’s means more to the outfielder than most because of his fond feeling for the team and for the fans, he said.

“I still love the A’s. They were the first team to ...

CBS Denver: Charlie Blackmon Kid Meets The Real Deal

IT’S THE TWO-YEAR OLD!!!

The little boy in the viral video who screamed for Rockies center fielder Charlie Blackmon got to meet the real deal Friday night.

Whenever Blackmon would to the plate, 2-year-old Tommy Carlson would get excited.

Really excited.

NYP: Yoenis Cespedes: I want to finish my career with A’s

Melvin to Cespedes: “Damn baby! What did you do to your hair?”

Yoenis Cespedes hasn’t finished the first season of his four-year, $110 million contact with the Mets, and the star outfielder already is thinking about joining another team.

Before Friday’s game against the A’s at Citi Field, Cespedes told the San Francisco Chronicle that he would like to end his career in Oakland, where he debuted in 2012, and remained until being traded to the Red Sox in July 2014.

“I wish that ...

Baseball’s Best Teams Are Too Damn Good

As we approach the July 31 trade deadline, this is more than just an academic curiosity. A team’s willingness to pony up prospects for a better shot at the World Series is directly tied to how much good it thinks a trade will do. In a wide-open season, even teams outside the top tier of contenders could be convinced to roll the dice on an upgrade — particularly with the expanded wild-card format. But the stronger the top teams are, the less incentive teams on the periphery have to make a ...

Steven Souza Jr. blames state of Athletics’ field for hip injury

Tampa Bay Rays right fielder Steven Souza Jr. is blaming the field conditions at the Oakland Athletics’ O.co Coliseum for a left hip injury that knocked him out of Wednesday’s game.

“I went to slide, and it was extremely muddy around second base,” Souza said after the Rays’ 7-2 loss. “My leg got stuck in the ground, and I just kind of felt a jump in my hip. That didn’t feel very great.”...

“I don’t know how it got real muddy out there, but it was not OK,” Souza told reporters. “I’ve never ...

Sonoma Stompers pitcher just 3rd woman to win pro game

In seven solid innings, the 5-9, 165-pound right-hander allowed just one run and four hits while striking out four and not allowing a walk. The Stompers trounced the Pittsburg Diamonds, 16-1.

Piagno allowed only one hit after the second inning and retired 20 of the final 22 batters she faced.

Don’t look OMNICHATTER in the eye, for July 21, 2017

He played where? Majors’ best ‘irony jerseys’

Giants: Darryl Strawberry’s No. 17
The only time Straw wore that weird No. 17 (which had always been Keith Hernandez’s number in New York) was the 29 games he played with the Giants in 1994. He got off to a very hot start, hitting homers in back-to-back games in Montreal and then doing it again with back-to-back homer days against the Rockies. At that point, Strawberry was hitting .303/.407/.530, but he promptly went 2-for-his-next-26, the strike came, and the Giants let him go.

Indians: Keith ...

Carson Kelly promoted to Cardinals; Marco Gonzales traded | Derrick Goold: Bird Land | stltoday.com

A bunch of moves and the following report:

In blunt terms, Mozeliak says #cardinals need a "change" or "shapeup" to "attitude and culture" and expresses concern for chronic lapses.

— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) July 21, 2017

Sounds like a managing change is coming.

Why all the rest for the Pirates? Clint Hurdle explains | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

This article convinced me that I need a nap.

Mariners trade top prospect Tyler O’Neill to Cardinals for LHP Marco Gonzales

The Mariners have made another trade to beef up their pitching staff, acquiring left-handed starter Marco Gonzales from the Cardinals in exchange for minor-league outfielder Tyler O’Neill, the organizations’ top prospect.

The team announced the move Friday morning, a day after acquiring reliever David Phelps from Miami for four minor-leaguers.

Gonzalez, 25, has a career 5.53 ERA in 12 games over parts of three seasons with St. Louis. He was a first-round pick out of Gonzaga in 2013 and ...

Ties to Cuba Enhance and Entangle Jorge Mas’s Marlins Bid

MIAMI — Throughout his life, Jorge Mas Santos has had a passion for Cuba, family, business and sports.

Now, as one of the wealthiest people in Miami and a serious contender to buy the Miami Marlins, Mas may be able to combine his interests in a way that would have an impact on baseball and, perhaps, the larger world of politics.

In Mas — who inherited his family’s business from his father, Jorge Mas Canosa, who died in 1997 — baseball sees a deep-pocketed investor with strong local ...

It’s unacceptable — Cardinals have lost their Way under Matheny

It was embarrassing and unacceptable, and somebody must be held accountable. Who are these guys masquerading as the St. Louis Cardinals?

There’s a right way to play baseball and a wrong way to play it. For 124 years of Cardinals’ baseball, the glorious franchise of Stan “The Man” Musial was the gold standard.

These guys hardly resemble George Kissell’s beloved Cardinals anymore. They aren’t your mom and dad’s Cardinals, much less your grandma and grandpa’s. The Cardinal Way is ...

The Absurd History of “The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim”

Almost nobody noticed it, but a major league team changed its name prior to the 2016 season. Slipped into a team style sheet was a detail almost nobody noticed until this June:  The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim dropped the “of Anaheim” label and returned to the name “Los Angeles Angels” for the first time since the club moved away from Dodger Stadium in 1965.
This is, admittedly, a minor change, but the “Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim” name has been a source of ridicule for fans ...

Do Teams Still Overpay for Free Agents from Other Teams?

Fascinatingly, the OPP Premium for pitchers has completely disappeared and reversed itself, while the OPP Premium for hitters has increased. I suspect that this is just a function of limited sample sizes, but it could also be a case of the market overcorrecting for the risk of signing other team’s pitchers.]

I think the best evidence is that teams have gotten smarter about signing free agents from other teams, and the market has become more efficient as a result. While it is difficult to ...

The Pirates and Cardinals will play in “The Little League Classic” on August 20

Major League Baseball and the MLBPA just announced that the Pittsburgh Pirates and the St. Louis Cardinals will play a special regular season game during the 2017 Little League World Series on Sunday, August 2. It will be called “The Little League Classic” and will be played in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The Pirates will be the home team.

The game, which takes place during the Little League World Series, will air nationally on ESPN at 7pm that night. ESPN, of course, broadcasts the Little ...

The 10 best Cardinals blockbuster trades in the DeWitt era | Jeff Gordon | stltoday.com

It’s time for the Cardinals to pack it in.

Tap-In Question: Should the Orioles be sellers no matter how they fare against the Astros? - BaltimoreBaseball.com

It’s pretty amazing how well Duquette has done in Baltimore working under the constraints of Angelos.

Yankees’ Luis Severino handcuffs Mariners | MLB.com

Severino is looking more and more like an ace.

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 7-21-2017

Chicago Eagle, July 21, 1917:

Bob Veach of the Tigers wants to know if hitting a ball over the bull sign entitles a batter to $50 the same as actually hitting the sign. In one of the games Detroit played in Washington Veach sent the ball clear over the sign for one of the longest drives ever seen in Washington. It is some trick to hit the sign there, let alone clear it.

Elsewhere on the same newspaper page, former big league catcher Ted Easterly is released on probation after a conviction for ...

Ken Rosenthal - Posts

Ken Rosenthal’s Facebook column. (Let me know if you can’t view it.) Would someone please help him set up a Wordpress account??

Watch Brendan McKay crush his first homerun in the Rays system - DRaysBay

Brendan McKay is slated to pitch his first outing this weekend, and will be on a 30-inning limit this summer after heavy use on the mound at Louisville in 2017.

Cleveland Indians can’t waste a chance to keep fans engaged—Terry Pluto | cleveland.com

If a World Series appearance didn’t bring them back…

Northeast Ohio is waiting to fall back in love with baseball.

I’m not talking about the hardcore Indians fans. The are a loyal Tribe, celebrating and agonizing with their favorite team for 162 games.

I’m talking about the casual sports fan ... or perhaps, the fan who gave up on the Indians during the grim days of trading Cy Young Award winners and slashing payroll.

SF Giants on NBCS on Twitter: “This guy dropped a foul ball. Then Kuip came along and made his day.

This guy dropped a foul ball.
Then Kuip came along and made his day. pic.twitter.com/KLRrEB4MvW

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) July 21, 2017

Inside Baseball AL Notes | Are Blue Jays And Rougned Odor A Match?

NL Notes.

Statcast takes a look at top trade candidates | MLB.com

More, more, more Statcast, please.