OT: 2014 Winter Olympics Thread

hopefully this isn’t jumping the gun too much, but i just can’t hold the snark in any longer. behold the glory of russian (the country, not the user here with the same screenname) bathrooms:

Braves extend Freddie Freeman

The deal with Freeman could be for as much as $125 million, Fox Sports reported Tuesday. Financial terms were not released.

Freddie will not be a Free man for at least 8 more years.

Berri: Why Masahiro Tanaka’s Yankees Contract Is Good for Baseball

As Professor Lavoof said: “There has to be a world off the books”.

So baseball people have thought large salaries are a threat for more than 130 years.  Despite this sentiment, Major League Baseball – unlike the NBA, NFL, and NHL – does not have a salary cap.  Consequently, baseball – relative to these other sports – has substantially more disparity in payroll.  In sum, there does appear to be a difference in baseball between the “haves” and “have-nots.”

At least, that is ...

Calcaterra: The Mets are not screwing around with Ike Davis this spring

First and foremost: first base. Where Lucas Duda and Ike Davis are set to battle it out. It sounds like it’ll be a good battle.

Collins says it’s “wide open” and makes it clear that there won’t be a lot of hemming and hawing. Davis is going to get 90 at bats — way more than a veteran usually has in the spring — and it seems obvious that if he doesn’t produce he’s basically done as a Met.

That’s tough on Davis and Duda I suppose, but it may be good for Mets fans.

What ...

Charlie Manuel to be inducted to Phillies Wall of Fame

Countdown to ridiculous “Gil Hodges belongs in the Wall of Fame!” movement begins…

Charlie Manuel already owns the Philadelphia Phillies’ record for wins by a manager with 780, but since records are made to be broken, the franchise will immortalize the legendary skipper another way.

The team announced on Tuesday that Manuel will join the ranks of the great Phillies of all time in a pre-game ceremony to be held on August 9, less than one year from the day he was relieved of his duties as ...

MLBTR: Braves To Extend Freddie Freeman; Braves Sign Jason Heyward To Two-Year Deal

The Heyward deal.

Braves buy out last two years of Heyward’s arbitration at 13 mil or so, then drop a reported 8 year/125 mil buyout extension for Freeman. This carries Heyward through 2016 and should extend Freeman well past the Turner Field era.

No word on the young starting pitchers. They will absolutely go to arb with Kimbrel.

Bleacher Report: Finding the Best Consumer Value

One of those annual comparisons of stadium prices and experiences that crops up in the sleepiest season for baseball news. 

The Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and Chicago Cubs are three of the most iconic teams in baseball, but given their inflated ticket prices, it’s hard to call any of them a bargain.

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 2-4-2014

Milwaukee Journal, February 4, 1914:

Leonard L. (King) Cole, who recently jumped organized baseball and signed a three-year contract with the Chicago Federal league club, has jumped back to the New York Americans. Cole signed a one year contract with the Yankees yesterday for $3,300, the figures named by Cole to President Farrell on Dec. 23, which Farrell duly accepted.

The salary is the same as that stipulated in the Chicago Federal league contract, which Cole signed in Chicago on Dec. 30. The ...

Indians go behind the numbers with analytic department, looking for an edge

Woolner, Andrecheck, please.

Woolner’s claim to fame before joining the Indians was developing the runs-based statistic VORP (an acronym that stands for Value Over Replacement Player), which is widely recognized by the sabermetrics community as a key component in the analysis of a baseball player’s performance and market value. Woolner’s VORP is a cousin to the current en vogue sabermetric term WAR (Wins Above Replacement).

“They’ve extended VORP in some ways,” Woolner said. ...

Mattingly says Puig may take on leadoff role

Yasiel Puig could be the Dodgers’ leadoff hitter this year, manager Don Mattingly indicated this weekend.

Mattingly said by switching Puig and last year’s leadoff hitter, lefty-swinging Carl Crawford, in the order, it would provide better righty-lefty balance, with right-handed hitter Hanley Ramirez batting third and left-handed hitter Adrian Gonzalez batting fourth.

But it also would be a nod to the reality that the 23-year-old Puig is more dynamic offensively than the 32-year-old Crawford, ...

Astros sign Jerome Williams

Send it in, Jerome!

The contract! Before they realize its a MLB guaranteed contract!

The Astros will be the fifth team and eighth organization Williams has pitched for in what will be his 11th season as an MLB pitcher. Last season with the Angels, Williams finished 9-10 with a 4.57 ERA and a 4.60 FIP. Williams posted a 0.3 WAR and has never posted a WAR over one since his rookie season in 2003.

When investigating Williams’ track record, it’s not too surprising that general manager Jeff ...

Of All People, Bob Uecker Claims That ‘Major League IV’ Is In The Works

Wesley Snipes could use the work.

“I’ll be honest with you, they’re talking about it,” Uecker said, according to Milwaukee Brewers beat writer Adam McCalvy. “The storyline is all set, too. They’ve already asked me if I would be in for ‘Major League IV,’ and I told them I would.

“I’ve talked to the directors. They’re talking about it and they’re pretty serious, but that’s all I can tell you, really. If there was more, I would tell you that, too. They have been talking ...

Michael Kay opens show on YES with shot at Mike Francesa by throwing Diet Coke in trash can

Aspartame says goodbye forever…

Michael Kay kicked off his gig as Francesa’s replacement on the Yankees’ station Monday with a silent dis to the man who anchored the afternoon programming on the network for a dozen years.

As YES’ cameras focused in on Kay and sidekick Don LaGreca, a bottle of Diet Coke was in clear sight. Unlike Francesa’s shows, the label was still on the bottle.

While Kay began his monologue, he picked up the bottle of soda and deposited it into a trash bin that was ...

Baseball America: 2014 College Preview: All-America Teams

Top-ranked Virginia leads all teams with four players on Baseball America’s preseason All-America teams, released Monday.

Outfielder Derek Fisher is Virginia’s lone first-teamer, while outfielder/first baseman Mike Papi makes the second team, and shortstop Branden Cogswell and outfielder Brandon Downes land on the third team. No. 4 Cal State Fullerton and No. 6 Florida State land three players apiece on the three teams.

Baseball America annually polls major league scouting directors to ...

Fernando Tatis zings the Broncos.

8 points in the superbowl…i had 8 rbi in one inning

Sweet slams bro.

Jim Palmer on A.J. Burnett and the O’s rotation

What does the three-time Cy Young winner, eight-time 20-game winner, MASN broadcaster and greatest pitcher in O’s history think of Burnett?

“Well, he had a nice year with Pittsburgh,” Palmer said at FanFest on Saturday. “I was talking to Dom Chiti who is going to be our bullpen coach. He goes, ‘Entirely different leagues.’

“Now that doesn’t mean ... at least he’s a groundball pitcher. Maybe command is not where you want, at least when he was with the Yankees. But he’s got experience and has ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 2-3-2014

Milwaukee Sentinel, February 3, 1914:

...baseball on ice is getting to be as popular a diversion in Milwaukee as elsewhere. Every afternoon on the upper Milwaukee river, opposite Blatz park, members of the Milwaukee Hockey league, all expert and fast skaters, meet for a game of sides. Indoor baseball rules and an indoor baseball are used and plenty of excitement as well as close play develops during the afternoon.

Indoor baseball is pretty much just softball.

First two picks of the Ice ...

Drooker: Converting Baby Boomers to SABRmetrics

Dunno…after watching the Scarborough/Barnicle tandumb slamming Sabermetrics this morning, this might be tough.

On a previous visit, the effort was made to convince fans who were youngsters in the 50’s and 60’s that advanced metrics are really more telling than just the stats on the back of a baseball card. A good friend of mine, who was born in the 40’s and might be the world’s most avid Willie Mays fan, isn’t quite ready to convert. However, after realizing that WAR (Wins Above Replacement) ...

Levi’s strengthens San Fran ties with Giants extension

Time to break out those hideous Panatela slacks!

The San Francisco-based brand will also rename the Giants’ casual Friday policy for front office staff, which will become Levi’s Casual Fridays, ‘encouraging employees, including players and coaches, to sport their Levi’s jeans on Fridays’.

  “The San Francisco Giants and the Levi’s brand are two iconic bay area organisations sharing a common thread in engaging passionate players and fans,” said Levi’s brand president, James ...

Salisbury: Getting the read on Ryne Sandberg

Sandberg became fed up with the game and abruptly retired, walking away from nearly $16 million, in June 1994.

“I was caught between two generations, the one I came up with, which still cared about the game, and the one I left behind, which hardly cared at all,” he wrote in the book. “In the ‘90s, I saw too many guys having fun after losses because they got a few hits or did something good for themselves. That didn’t appeal to me at all. There’s a lack of respect today for the game ...

They print ‘Wild Thing’ legend – but Williams loaded the bases with hits in ’89 Cubs opener

Mitch Williams: “I never considered myself in a jam.” (That’s Entertainment!)

“When you have the nickname ‘Wild Thing,’ everybody thinks that,” said Williams, a glib storyteller in his recent gig as guest speaker at the Pitch and Hit Club’s 68th annual banquet. He gets paid to do what he does, and not just at baseball events. Williams is a baseball analyst for MLB Network and Fox Sports.

“I did walk the bases loaded and struck out the side – it just didn’t happen on that ...

Lemire: Michael Young: A great player in the wrong era

Non-Walking Distance: Young gig over. Maybe there’s only one career to every customer.

Young’s legacy is complicated by its timing. Had he played two or three decades ago, his career would have been hailed as great and almost Hall of Fame caliber. After all, he retires with a .300 batting average, 2,375 hits, seven All-Star appearances, a Gold Glove and at least 100 games’ experience playing each of the four infield positions, and as having served as de facto team captain in Texas. He ...

Japan Times: NPB squads start spring training

Baseball season is finally here!

The Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, who last season won their first Japan Series in the franchise’s ninth year of existence, started spring training Saturday in Kumejima, Okinawa Prefecture, in preparation for the start of the regular season on March 28.

The Eagles and seven other teams got down to work in Okinawa, while four clubs, including the Yomiuri Giants who are aiming for their third consecutive Central League pennant, opened camp in Miyazaki ...

Tracy McGrady the Pitcher

Former NBA star guard Tracy McGrady is looking to start a career as a professional baseball player.

MLB has greater parity than NFL

So that’s the exception, you say? The Same Teams Win Every Year in baseball, you say? Really? Actually, baseball hasn’t had a season in which more than half of its playoff teams repeated since 2005. The NFL is working on a streak of five straight seasons in which at least half of its playoff teams were repeaters. Who knew!

Clearly, the NFL needs to get rid of the salary cap so it can have as much parity as baseball.

Royals Re-Sign Bruce Chen

The Royals will bring back free agent swingman Bruce Chen after agreeing to terms on a one-year, $4.25MM deal that includes a $5.5MM mutual option for 2015. The 36-year-old lefty, a client of the Boras Corporation, will earn $3.25MM in 2014 and is also promised a $1MM buyout on the option. He can also make an additional $1.25MM in performance bonuses.

Ian Chappell says Twenty20 will become a poor impersonation of baseball

I have no idea what any of this means…guess I should have read Greg Shaw’s Bomp! Records liner notes better.

Former Australia captain Ian Chappell feels that Twenty20 cricket has made the game more batsmen-centric and more needs to be done to maintain a balance between the bat and the ball. According to him, if this continues it could lead to the demise of the sport.

Chappell in his column in the Daily Telegraph feels the organisers are putting more emphasis on big hitting and bringing ...

Ivan Rodriguez Welcomes Cuba in the Caribbean Baseball Series

Screw Carlton Fisk…Ivan Rodriguez is the “flannel Pudge”!

The legendary catcher Ivan Rodriguez today welcomed Cuba to the Caribbean Baseball Series and said the team of his country, the Indios de Mayagüez, is able to give fight.

In an aside with Cuban media in Lidotel hotel in this city, Pudge (as is known worldwide the “boricua” catcher) said that Cuba deserves to be at events like this, and others that may arise from now on. It is a pleasure that is participating, he added.

Rodriguez ...

OT: NBA February 2014

In total, 14 former Lakers are under contract with other teams—more if training camp invites and traded draft picks are included:
Charlotte Bobcats: Ramon Sessions, Josh McRoberts, Jannero Pargo and Chris Douglas-Roberts (training camp invite)
Cleveland Cavaliers: Earl Clark
Clippers: Matt Barnes, Antawn Jamison
Houston Rockets: Dwight Howard, Patrick Beverley (drafted 42nd overall in 2009, traded immediately to the Miami Heat)
Indiana Pacers: Andrew Bynum
Miami Heat: Toney Douglas (drafted ...

OTP - Feb 2014: Politics remains a hurdle for immigration reform

Yet Obama might find his best-chance legislative compromise in an issue that lately has seemed to be on life support: an overhaul of the nation’s immigration laws.

Curiously, immigration was an issue the president barely mentioned in this year’s speech. Maybe he does not want to interfere with those Republicans who actually agree with him on the need to bring the nation’s millions of undocumented workers out of the shadows.