Schultz: Bisher deserving but falls short of Spink Award

The Simmer Game…

The late, great Furman Bisher fell just short of a similar honor on Tuesday. Bisher, the long-time former Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist, was edged out by essayist Roger Angell for the J.G. Taylor Spink Award, which is voted on by the Basebabll Writers Association of America and awarded at the Hall of Fame ceremonies.

Angell is a long-time contributor to The New Yorker and has written a number of books on baseball. So I’m not going to write anything here that ...

Wuerz: Albert Pujols makes eye-opening comments about the Cardinals

As was once asked of Albert Fish…“Where are the needles, Albert?”

It’s interesting how former Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols has suddenly become so visible again in St. Louis.

Pujols appeared on local sports radio yesterday to talk about the election of former Redbirds manager Tony La Russa to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and during the conversation the subject changed to newly acquired St. Louis outfielder Peter Bourjos.

His former teammate in Anaheim, Pujols predicted great things ...

Ex-Cubs phenom Prior retires at 33

SI coverage of Prior’s debut. 

” cols=“100” rows=“20”

The Tribune confirmed a Twitter report by Mike Beradino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, who said he ran into Prior in a hotel lobby at the winter meetings in Florida and was told that the 33-year-old right-hander is “officially retired” after his latest setback while with the Cincinnati Reds’ Triple-A team. Beradino reports that Prior is considering a position in the San Diego Padres’ front office.

SI coverage of Prior’s ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 12-10-2013

Pittsburgh Gazette Times, December 10, 1913:

[Pennsylvania] Gov. [John] Tener was elected [National League president] and the National League magnates voted unanimously for the selection of the Keystone State executive as head of the parent baseball organization. [Outgoing president Thomas] Lynch, before leaving the meeting for his home in New Britain, made the following statement to the magnates:

“In choosing your next president, gentlemen, you have gone on record as wanting a man who will ...

Tony Jackson: “I simply have had my fill of covering baseball”

Now about that Deadspin HOF ballot…

And so, I’m just going to tell you — in case you haven’t already figured it out based on the lack of recent posting — that I have decided to shut down this blog. Well, not shut it down completely. It will still exist, and I still will provide occasional content for it. But it won’t be Dodgers content or baseball content or anything of that nature. Unlike four years ago when I was laid off by the Los Angeles Daily News, and unlike a year and a half ...

Redleg Nation: Can we just trade Aroldis Chapman already?

You can’t spell Aroldis without Rid Also.

Assuming you are a non-believer and recognize the Myth of the Closer, Chapman is the one pitcher of value the Reds can move who will bring the most while affecting the team’s fortunes in 2014 least. Another year closing out games—even if the front office holds good on it’s stated desire to utilize a more high-leverage Chapman—isn’t a difference maker in my opinion. The Reds simply have more pressing needs at this juncture. What Chapman can ...

LAT: Magglio Ordonez goes from MLB star to socialist mayor in one year

Ordonez did not indicate whether he planned to redistribute the $133,470,746 he earned in the bigs.

The former player for the Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers was elected mayor of Sotillo, an eastern Venezuelan city with approximately 250,000 citizens, this weekend.

Ordonez is a member of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela and a supporter of President Nicolas Maduro, who announced the six-time All Star’s election at a rally Sunday.

Maduro is known to turn to celebrity candidates to ...

Red Sox Reportedly Eye Matt Kemp…

Jacoby who?

The Hardball Times: Leverage Index by inning

Here’s a little something you may not have known: on average, games get less critical as the game progresses. In other words, on average for all games, the ninth inning is actually less critical and tense than the first when measured correctly. [...]

Tom M. Tango asked for some follow-up information, so I’m going to post it here and on his blog. In 90% of all 2013 games, the Leverage Index rose about 2 at least once. Here is the percent of times it rose above two, by half innings:

Baseball America: 2014 New York Yankees Top 10 Prospects

I once assisted rookie Thad Tillotson get coffee for the Yankees. Didn’t help.

TOP 10 PROSPECTS

1. Gary Sanchez, c
2. Slade Heathcott, of
3. Mason Williams, of
4. J.R. Murphy, c
5. Eric Jagielo, 3b
6. Aaron Judge, of
7. Ian Clarkin, lhp
8. Greg Bird, 1b
9. Luis Severino, rhp
10. Gosuke Katoh, 2b

As if that weren’t maddening enough, nearly all of the Yankees’ potential impact prospects took a step back. Outfielder Mason Williams struggled with weight gain and poor performance. Outfielder ...

Randy Levine: Boss omission a ‘mistake’

Lost in the flood…of candidates. (oh-oh…oh-oh…repeat ad nauseam)

“I think it was a mistake,” Levine told ESPN New York by telephone. “I congratulate Joe Torre, Bobby Cox and Tony La Russa. All of them were thoroughly deserving but I think there is no doubt that George Steinbrenner was one of the greatest figures in the history of baseball. He, more than anybody, deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. I fully expect he will be one day.”

Steinbrenner’s credentials will be re-evaluated in three ...

Let go by the Tigers, Toby Harrah deserved better

Just one year ago, the Detroit Tigers were raving about the job that Harrah had done after joining the team in mid-season. In the first month after Harrah joined the staff, the Tigers improved their offensive output by a full run per game. Now, Harrah has been cut loose, as new manager Brad Ausmus decided not to retain him as part of his staff.

Roy Halladay to retire as a Blue Jay

Greatest Blue Jays pitcher: Roy Halladay or Dave Stieb?

Tony La Russa Bobby Cox, Joe Torre all unanimously elected to the Hall of Fame

For the first time in a long time we have living, breathing inductees for the Hall of Fame. The Veteran’s Committee has elected Bobby Cox, Tony La Russa, . They will be inducted next July 27th in Cooperstown.

...Left on the outside looking in: Dave Concepcion, Steve Garvey, Tommy John, Billy Martin, Marvin Miller, Dave Parker, Dan Quisenberry, Ted Simmons and George Steinbrenner, all of whom failed to gain more than six votes. Twelve votes were required for induction.

Thanks to Butch.

Doosan Bears sign ex-MLB slugger Jorge Cantu

Low helmet alert!

The Doosan Bears announced on Monday they’ve acquired former Major League Baseball (MLB) slugger Jorge Cantu.

The Seoul-based Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) club said they signed the 31-year-old infielder for US$250,000 for next season, along with a signing bonus of $50,000.

Cantu becomes the first position player from overseas to join a KBO club since 2011. Teams here are allowed two foreign players each—with an exception for the expansion team the NC Dinos, who can ...

Schilling Replaces Hershiser At ESPN

Must check out Just Another ####### #5…to see if “Krucky Bring to the Table” had a no-wave cut on it.

Curt Schilling knows criticism is coming. He expects it.

The former All-Star pitcher and three-time World Series champ (twice with the Boston Red Sox) is replacing Orel Hershiser on ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball” broadcast crew next season, giving him a wider audience for his opinions.

“No matter how you phrase it, if you don’t compliment a player, that player’s team, that’s ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 12-9-2013

El Paso Herald, December 9, 1913:

Members of the Philadelphia Athletics are said to have refused to subscribe their names to 17 demands made by the Baseball Players’ fraternity which is seeking numerous concessions from major and minor leagues. The Philadelphia players are said to have declared that they had no grievances and that to sign would be unfair to manager Connie Mack.

It’s the Players’ Disunion.

Panas: How Bad Was Torii Hunter’s Defense in 2013?

Rip Hunter: Challenge of the known.

The top defensive right fielders in the majors in 2013 according to these measures were Shane Victorino of the Red Sox (+39 RSAA) and Gerardo Parra of the Diamondbacks (+28).  Both outfielders excelled at making plays outside the right field zone (+42 OOZAA for Victorino, +28 for Parra).

Veteran right fielder Torii Hunter of the Tigers was last in MLB with -21 RSAA.  Hunter was bad on plays inside the zone (-10) and outside (-15).  He also was rated well ...

Morosi: Arms for Sale? White Sox primed to shop young lefties

Why should Hahn trade Sale now? A few reasons:

• It isn’t every offseason that a general manager can start a negotiation by saying, “Chris Sale was the best left-handed starter in baseball (not named Clayton Kershaw) over the past two seasons. And you can have him for the next six seasons at a little more than $55 million — total.”

• The class of free-agent pitchers isn’t especially strong — and will be weakened further if Masahiro Tanaka remains in Japan.

• The White Sox ...

2013 Winter Meetings OMNICHATTER

Discuss all general rumors, gossip, scuttlebutt, lies, mysteries and such from Orlando here, I guess.

Mandela, a ‘Yankee,’ to Be Honored in Monument Park

During Nelson Mandela’s triumphant visit to New York in June 1990, shortly after he was released from a South African prison, one of his most memorable stops was a rally and concert at Yankee Stadium, where he donned a cap and jacket and proclaimed, “I am a Yankee.”

To commemorate that moment and the life of Mandela, the South African leader who died last week at age 95, the Yankees will place a plaque in Monument Park to be unveiled on Jackie Robinson Day, April 15, when the Yankees ...

FanGraphs: Blengino: The Cano Decade

Hey, Tony Blengino here. You might remember me from such Mariner classics as “MMIX – Negative Run Differential Theater” , or “2010 – A Spaced Odyssey”. For some years, I was a scout with the Brewers, and in more recent years I was an assistant to the GM with the Mariners. While I’m between baseball adventures, I’ve been given the privilege of writing on the storied pages of FanGraphs. I know the bar is high here, and I’ll do my best to reach it.

Alas, I am no longer a ...

Flynn: At Temple, other sports pay to keep football alive

Johnnie ain’t the only Temple hollerin’.

Baptist pastor Russell Conwell began Temple College, which we know as Temple University today, in the basement of his north Philadelphia church in 1884 to give working men (and later women) the opportunity to better themselves through education.

Friday’s announcement by the university’s bean counters to eliminate seven sports – but, oh, no, it’s not because of football – must have the good pastor rolling in his grave.

Athletic director Kevin ...

Speier: Mike Napoli, Dustin Pedroia and the value of Red Sox clubhouse culture

But in the end, Napoli knew with certainty that he wanted to return to the Sox, and valued that above the possibility of a larger guarantee in terms of absolute dollars or even more years—a significant concession for a player who a year ago discovered that he had a potentially career-ending hip condition. He elected to take a straight two-year deal from the Sox (one that did indeed feature the highest average annual salary of any of the offers he received), to stay with a team and a city that ...

HHS: The Top 50 Pitchers Since 1950

Where the #### (####) is Jack (Jack) Morris?!

Who are the best starting pitchers of the past 60+ years? One way to answer that question is using RE24, the measure of how much a pitcher reduces his opponent’s’ run expectancy with each batter faced.

Starting from each of the 24 base-out states (ranging from nobody on, nobody out to to bases loaded, two out), there is an expected number of runs a team will score in the remainder of that inning, based on average hitters facing average ...

Seattle Times: Dysfunction at the top

The Mariners’ front office is plagued by “total dysfunction and a lack of leadership,” according to former manager Eric Wedge. Wedge and other former and current team employees describe problems at the top of the organization.

#6org!

Fay: Players’ sentiments can’t be discounted

The Aroldis Chapman situation…

The logical thing, or the Sabermatical thing, to do is to move Aroldis Chapman to the rotation.

Anyone who knows WAR from ERA+ will tell you that. A No. 1 starter is probably the biggest commodity in baseball. Chapman has the stuff to be a No. 1. The Reds have three or four guys on the roster who likely could convert saves at the rate Chapman does.

New manager Bryan Price knows that Chapman’s value is greater as a starter. He espoused moving Chapman to the ...

The Juan Vené HOF ballot

Don’t know what’s funnier…Juan Vené‘s HOF ballot babelfished or Juan Vené‘s HOF ballot! (Maddux, Glavine, Morris, Smith)

This is the month of the year when I not only get more calls from my colleagues in the Major League Baseball Writers Association, but also more times I call them. Comment, we consulted, we discuss about how voting for the Cooperstown Hall of Fame.

Some ask me this time why not vote for Mike Mussina. Do not think that it deserves my vote, and less in their first year… * ...

Willie Davis, Shot from Remote Camera, 2nd Base

It’s just a picture of Willie Davis sliding into second base at Dodger Stadium in 1965. Which, gulp, was almost 50 years ago.

Lawrence: Can Phillies realistically deal Papelbon?

Pap guidelines: Recommendations and Rationale.

“SOURCES: Phillies trying to trade Papelbon.”

That’s from the Twitter feed of Ken Rosenthal, foxsports.com’s leading baseball writer and arguably the reporter in the sport who breaks the most news on a regular basis. Rosenthal was the first to float out the idea of the Phillies’ trading Cliff Lee in order to acquire Roy Halladay 4 years ago this month.

With all due respect to Rosenthal - and perhaps there is a team out there, given that it takes ...