Gotta blame it on something, Blame it on OMNICHATTER for September 8, 2017

Braves prospect Acuna Pipeline Hitter of Year | MLB.com

This kids looks pretty, pretty good.

MLB MVPs: Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and ... Tommy Pham? Smart money says these are the candidates | SI.com

Jay Jaffe embraces the best way to pay for WAR.

Dodgers’ Walker Buehler solid in debut | MLB.com

The next big thing.

2017 Minor League All-Star Team | BaseballAmerica.com

That’s a lot of Blue Jays.

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 9-8-2017

Seattle Star, September 8, 1917:

Shortstop Lavan and Second Baseman Pratt, of the Browns, have each filed suit against P.D. Ball, president of the club, for $50,000 damages, for alleged slanderous statements contained in an interview in a St. Louis paper.

The petitions assert Ball, “by his statements, meant and intended to charge that the plaintiffs and other players failed to play a good game of ball, and that the plaintiff was unfaithful and dishonest in his business and profession of ...

Heyman | 7 Potential Landing Spots In Giancarlo Stanton Trade

If the Marlins are truly committed to slashing payroll to the core, Stanton has to go. As Heyman mentions, trading him after this season maximizes the get. How many teams, though, would be willing to eat the salary *and* kick back quality prospects?

As for Heyman’s thoughts on potential landing spots…if the Marlins are looking to slash payroll, I don’t see them taking Ellsbury back.

4. YANKEES
The Yankees did make a call, and while there hasn’t been a lot of internal buzz about them, they ...

Baseball Nuggets: Spalding’s Official Base Ball Record books

OK, this is pretty cool.

Twitter: Even Stupid Stuff Like This Can’t Redeem Twitter

this site is still worthwhile pic.twitter.com/cYrCQKHcub

— Harry Pavlidis (@harrypav) September 7, 2017

Rockies’ Arenado hits homer off Kershaw | MLB.com

Dodgers can’t win. Even Kershaw is getting shelled.

Indians win 15th straight, sweeping White Sox | MLB.com

Indians can’t lose.

Bonds was blackballed like Kaepernick and excuses were the same - NY Daily News

Longtime Primate and good guy John Brattain gets quoted a lot in this piece. He was a real favorite of mine and a lot of the members here. He’s still missed.

Where New York Yankee Aaron Judge’s Second-Half Slump Ranks in History - The Ringer

Ouch.

However, that apparent case of the hiccups has continued for seven subsequent weeks. Judge, who’s hitting .183/.350/.355 with a 34.1 percent strikeout rate since the All-Star break, has only eight homers in that span, and while idle Wednesday relinquished his long-held AL home run lead to Oakland’s Khris Davis. Judge no longer has the worst WAR of the second half, but he’s closer to the bottom of the leaderboard than the top, ranking 125th of 168 qualified hitters. His 0.3 postbreak ...

Inside Baseball NL Notes | David Wright Wants One More Shot

Heyman’s latest.

AL Notes here.

Heyman | D-Backs GM Hazen Credits Past Regimes

My bank account would appreciate the D’Backs staying hot and winning the World Series.

Gene Michael was much more than man who saved the Yankees | New York Post

Gene Michael was an exceptional baseball man.

Baseball Is Moving Away From the Sinker | FanGraphs Baseball

Again, but quicker: My theory is that teams are increasingly selecting for four-seamers because they’re trying to combat the changing swings and approaches. Hitters grew extremely good at punishing the sinker down. It’s still possible to succeed down there — consider, say, Dallas Keuchel — but you need to pitch with ever so much precision. The four-seamer can turn into easier strikeouts, and it stands to reason that’s something teams could continue to chase until hitters get better at ...

Oh, a storm is threat’ning OMNICHATTER’s very life today, for September 7, 2017

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 9-7-2017

El Paso Herald, September 7, 1917:

[Pirates manager Hugo Bezdek:] “Ty Cobb says the trouble with the Germans is that they don’t play [baseball]. Well, why don’t they? The answer is easy; They’ve never been taught to play it. Germany has no national sport which calls for the meeting of man against man in competition. There’s your answer for the things they have done in Belgium and in France: they have never been taught fair play and good sportsmanship. I tell you it makes a difference.

Okay, so ...

Sabermetrics Starter Cards | Banished to the Pen

Get your sabermetrics cards.

Dave Roberts: ‘We’re going to win the division, I can assure you of that’ - True Blue LA

“Any time you’re not getting good results, it’s frustrating. The fans probably don’t want to hear ‘Stay with the process and keep going about it,’ but it’s the truth,” said third baseman Justin Turner. “The pendulum will swing back in our favor. We just have to keep showing up, keep grinding, and stay positive.”

Roberts has for the most part kept an even keel in his demeanor most of the season, never getting too high with the wins — all 92 of them, still the most in ...

Myriad Orioles Thoughts: Starting Hays makes sense; Aquino’s designation; Wright’s return - BaltimoreBaseball.com

How will manager Buck Showalter use Hays, who hit .329 with 32 homers between Single-A Frederick and Double-A Bowie this year in his first full season as a pro?

“I think I have some speed so possibly in pinch-running situations,” said Hays, the Orioles’ third-round pick out of Jacksonville University in 2016. “I feel like I play pretty good defense, so maybe a defensive situation or, if they need my bat in the lineup, I’m ready to be in the lineup, too. Any situation they need me.”

Silverman: Doug Fister looks like an ace | Boston Herald

Let’s not get carried away.

The difference between Doug Fister and Sale is the former doesn’t need any qualifiers. Fister is the real thing, people, and last night’s gem — his fourth consecutive start of seven-plus innings allowing two or fewer runs — should be enough to cement his status as the closest thing to a sure thing the Red Sox can put on the mound at this point in the season.

If you’ve been waiting for his pixie dust to wear off, you can hit pause because 33-year-old ...

The Jonah Keri Podcast: Bill James - CBSSports.com

Haven’t had time to listen to this yet. With the pairing, I’m sure it’s interesting.

The shocking history of sign stealing in baseball

As Mike Lowell joked on MLB Network, this is partly a pace of play issue. How much time were these pitchers taking between pitches?

Boston’s greatest crime was the obviousness with which it employed the scheme. Generally speaking, according to sources, if someone on a team’s video staff cracks an opponent’s signals, they are run from the video room to an intermediary in the dugout and forwarded to players on the field. The Red Sox’s crime, according to sources, was sending the decoded ...

White Sox prospect Jimenez visits Chicago | MLB.com

“I truly believe that I can be playing here right now,” said Jimenez through interpreter Billy Russo. “Like I say, God’s plan is perfect. The only thing I can do and handle is to work hard every day and try to do my best and try to learn about the game every day and put me in the best position to force them to make a decision.

“They are the ones who can have the power and in my case, in my mind, I’m ready. But I have to wait.”

Beware Mets fans: Team looks ready to cut payroll in 2018 | New York Post

These small-market teams really need to watch the bottom line.

Owners Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz did just enough last offseason to silence criticisms about thriftiness — giving Yoenis Cespedes a four-year contract worth $110 million was a good start — but now old questions are bound to arise, given the Mets’ dismal performance this season, empty seats at Citi Field and the general manager’s assessment next year’s payroll may decrease.

The Mets have about $65 million coming off the ...

Stephen Strasburg extends scoreless streak, overcoming cramps to beat Marlins

MIAMI — In the sixth inning of the Washington Nationals’ 2-1 win Tuesday over the Miami Marlins, Stephen Strasburg fell behind Giancarlo Stanton 3-0. Strasburg was also experiencing calf cramps at the time, a minor problem he cannot seem to shake, and it all combined to create a rather discouraging set of circumstances for the Nationals right-hander.

But Strasburg fought back into the count against the man on a mighty home run tear and induced a groundout. He then struck out Christian ...

Astros’ Lance McCullers ready for return Wednesday

On Wednesday night at Safeco Field, the day after they will have officially welcomed Justin Verlander into their rotation, the Astros will get back Lance McCullers Jr.

But which version of McCullers will the Astros get?

The last time we saw McCullers on a major league mound, the 23-year-old with the electric right arm was amid the worst stretch in his young career. Poor fastball command plagued the 2017 All-Star, whose once-elite 2.69 ERA inflated to 3.92 in a span of five starts.

Red Sox score marathon walk-off win in 19 innings

Once the adrenaline rush from putting together a ninth-inning rally to force extra innings eventually wore off, and the ninth inning turned into the 11th, then the 13th, then the 15th, then the 17th, and all the zeroes on the scoreboard started to blend together, the Sox’s stalemate with the Blue Jays became its own surreal mental and physical challenge.

Physically, there wasn’t a body on the field that wasn’t feeling the drain of a game that stretched long past midnight.
...
But in ...