Braves sign Jose Bautista to a minor-league contract, will play third base

The Braves announced an agreement with infielder Jose Bautista on a one-year, minor-league contract Wednesday. Bautista has reported to the team’s extended spring training in Florida.

The Braves announced he would play third base. Bautista manned third in eight games last season (38 innings), but hasn’t consistently played there since 2007, when he appeared in 126 games at the hot corner for the Pirates.

Update: Cubs’ Anthony Rizzo calls his shorter-season, pay-cut comments ‘my opinion’

No thank you.

Leave the gun, take the OMNICHATTER for April 16, 2018

Diamondbacks’ Taijuan Walker diagnosed with “UCL injury”

Lovullo was pressed on multiple occasions as to whether Walker’s ligament was torn or not, but he repeatedly said he didn’t know. Asked what else it could be if it wasn’t torn or frayed to some extent, he said, “I don’t know that answer. We’re optimistic that it’s going to be as good as possible.”

One thing seems certain: If Walker has a full tear of the ligament, flying to New York for a second opinion wouldn’t make any sense.

“I guess you could say that,” Lovullo said. ...

Ready Player One

Anyone who’s ever tried to explain baseball to someone genuinely encountering it for the first time knows how hard it is to put the game into words. But I noticed something else about how I told the story. It was entirely about the batter and his brave adventure. It’s a strange decision, given that the batter is only half of the equation. In some sense, it’s understandable. When trying to explain any game, it’s a good idea to start with one of the universal features of competitive ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 4-18-2018

Oklahoma City Times, April 18, 1918:

An English sportsman, who was resting at Mineral Wells, Texas, was much interested in the Chicago White Sox, and in Eddie Cicotte especially. He had heard that Cicotte was the leading pitcher in the American league last season, and couldn’t understand why an athlete, apparently so short, could be such a marvel.
...
[The Englishman asked Cicotte] “And may I inquire if you ever play cricket?”

“Cricket! That’s a bug game,” responded Cicotte.

To this day the ...

Deadspin: The Mets Previewed A Dark, Mets-y Future Last Night

When he trotted out for the eighth inning, Jacob deGrom became the first Mets starter to throw a pitch that late in a game this season. That lack of length hadn’t mattered much, as the team’s bullpen had been virtually spotless over the season’s first two weeks. DeGrom allowed two singles and struck out Michael A. Taylor, and Mickey Callaway made his move. The Mets co-ace left after 103 pitches and with what looked like ample cushion for a win. The bullpen needed only to get five outs ...

Was it over when the Germans bombed OMNICHATTER, for April 17, 2018

Royals’ Blaine Boyer took wheel of team bus after chunk of ice smashed windshield

Royals strength and conditioning coach Ryan Stoneberg shared what happened on Instagram.

“While driving from the airport to the hotel through brutal cold conditions, ice from the roof of the staff bus flew off and hit the windshield of the trailing bus,” Stoneberg wrote. “The windshield was smashed, glass flew in the face of the driver, and one of our players had to assist with steering the bus to safety on the highway. I am so glad that all our players are safe due to quick action of our team ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 4-17-2018

Philadelphia Evening Public Ledger, April 17, 1918:

The effort is being made to introduce “kittem,” a modified form of baseball, into New York playgrounds. The extra sunlight is expected to greatly augment interest in the sport, the scheme of which is as follows:

Kittem is played with a large twelve-inch ball, the clenched fist being used as a bat. The game has been very successful in Detroit, where it originated; Minneapolis, St. Paul and other large cities where daylight-saving laws have been ...

Francisco Mejia and the Legal Limits of Brand Contracts | FanGraphs Baseball

Very interesting court case.

With Kiermaier sidelined into July, time for Rays to make some big moves

A proponent of tanking.

A cautionary note about spring statistics, and other thoughts - Chicago Tribune

Unfortunately for Happ, this is the first April of his major-league career, so he doesn’t have a full season under his belt to prove it’s an anomaly. After a couple of hits Friday, Happ was asked if having five hits in eight 8 at-bats over three games was encouraging after his rough start, despite the small sample size.

“That’s a small sample size,” he said of his 41 at-bats. “Just wait until the end of the year.”

Manager Joe Maddon is not likely to give up on Happ, at least not ...

Ozzie Albies: A Tale of Two Hitters - Fake Teams

Confirmation of everything our eyes are telling us.

Ohtani Almost Signed With Red Sox (but not when you think)

Traveling the world as international scouts, Jon Deeble and Eddie Romero encountered their share of oddities. But the Red Sox talent evaluators had no idea what awaited them at Hanamaki Higashi High School, a two-hour bullet train ride outside Tokyo, in 2012.

They had come to interview schoolboy phenom Shohei Ohtani, and all of Japan evidently knew it.

“The media sitting out in front of the school at the front entrance was unbelievable,” Deeble recalled. “When we went in to interview him, ...

About the only problem the Red Sox have is what to do with Blake Swihart

Having talent is not a problem. Because of his injuries Swihart’s stock is down. The Red Sox need to get him into the mix behind the plate to either showcase him for deals or to turn him into a partner for Vazquez. They can keep Sandy Leon around if they want him for insurance to remain as a future backup to Vazquez. He should not be an impediment.

Rick Porcello has now settled in nicely with Leon catching him. Pitchers love Leon behind the plate. Any notion of trying to deal Leon to make room ...

And the wind cries OMNICHATTER, for April 16, 2018

Clayton Kershaw strikes out 12 in Dodgers’ 7-2 victory over Diamondbacks | LA Times

That the Dodgers reported for work in last place in the National League West for the first time in three years did not particularly worry the men in uniform. It was April, after all. They would win one of these days, and Clayton Kershaw would be their pitcher on this day.

“If there’s anyone you want to take the mound in a game like this, it’s Clayton,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

A game like this? Three consecutive losses overall, five consecutive losses to the Arizona Diamondbacks, ...

Rays Kiermaier to have surgery, miss 8-12 weeks | TB Times

Kiermaier will have surgery for a torn ligament in his right thumb and is expected to miss 8-12 weeks, the Tampa Bay Times has learned. An announcement from the team is expected later today.

The Rays have been in this position before, each of the last two years actually, waiting for test results but expecting bad news regarding an injury to centerfielder Kevin Kiermaier.

This time it’s a right thumb injury, sustained sliding headfirst into second Sunday while taking an extra base, with the ...

10 Degrees: MLB’s enormous attendance drop due to bad weather or something far worse for baseball?

Even if some are obviously weather-related, the numbers are nevertheless staggering. The average crowd of 27,532 over the 221 MLB games played this season is about 2,700 fans per game lower than last year through the same point. Over the course of a full season, that would amount to a drop of more than 6.5 million fans.

The Bonkers Game That Probably Shouldn’t Have Been

In the end, we saw the Braves jump out to a 10-2 lead and feature a 99.4% chance of winning the game as late as the seventh inning. Despite adding a few runs, the Cubs’ win probability was still just 2.0% in the eighth after Efren Navarro whiffed to record the inning’s second out. Nine two-out runs later, Chicago’s probability of losing was just 2.6%.

Bartolo Colón Almost Did the Impossible

There was Colón, slicing and dicing the Astros through seven perfect innings, just six outs separating him from what would’ve arguably been the greatest pitching feat in MLB history. Facing one of the most juggernaut offenses the game has ever seen, Colón set his first 21 batters down in order using that diesel-powered fastball and virtually nothing else, until a walk by Correa to open the eighth ended his chase of history and a double by Josh Reddick right after closed the book on the ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 4-16-2018

New York Sun, April 16, 1918:

LOCAL BASEBALL LID COMES OFF TO-DAY

After the balmy weather of yesterday the magic words “play ball,” which will be uttered on the Polo Grounds this afternoon by Umpire Cy Rigler, will be appropriate and seasonable. On such a day as yesterday each gentle zephyr seemed to sing “play ball.”

Even the fact that each hour brings fresh developments of the world’s greatest battle, and that Uncle Sam is plunged in his greatest Liberty Loan drive cannot drown out the music ...

OTP 2018 Apr 16: Beto strikes out but is a hit at baseball fundraiser

“I guarantee you he didn’t just get three pitches and three strikes like his old man,” said O’Rourke.

He can afford a laugh, since he has dusted Cruz in fundraising by taking in an eye-popping $6.7 million in the first three months of this year. That’s more than twice the $3.2 million gathered by Cruz, whose tally counted money from multiple campaign entities including a political action committee.

O’Rourke won’t take PAC money, a stand that’s expected to put him at a ...

Deven Marrero HR changed to single upon review

Well, that’s not good.

Why Matt Harvey’s spot in Mets’ rotation isn’t completely safe

Both Mickey Callaway and his pitching coach, Dave Eiland, insist they have not yet contemplated what they will do if all the members of their rotation are available to them. Around the Mets you learn quickly — even in Year 1 in charge — not to plan too quickly on having too many starting pitchers.

But we also have learned this rather fast about the new leadership. They were not brought in to rebuild. That fervor to go for it now only has been heightened by the exquisite opening to this ...

With Preston Tucker producing, Braves can wait to call up Ronald Acuna

Just bought tickets to see Acuna play next Sunday. Now I have to wait and see whether he’ll actually still be on the team.

Weekend OMNICHATTER for April 14-15, 2018

MLB suspends Nolan Arenado, Luis Perdomo as part of brawl punishments

NEW YORK—Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado has been suspended five games for charging the mound after Luis Perdomo threw a pitch behind his back, inciting a benches-clearing brawl during Wednesday’s game against the San Diego Padres.

Major League Baseball announced Friday that Perdomo was also suspended five games for intentionally throwing at the All-Star third baseman.

Gerardo Parra gets four games, Buddy Bauman gets a game. A.J. Ellis, Freddy Galvis, and German Marquez get fines. ...Read More...

Kevin Plawecki breaks left hand

Tomas Nido be enough?