The Marc Maturo HOF Ballot

Maturo’s full 10 + 1 HOF ballot.

Maddux, Glavine, Bonds, Clemens, Piazza, Biggio, Kent, J. Morris, Raines, E. Martinez…and Mr. Pete Rose.

This year’s ballot again features such players (chiefly Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens), but generally recognized “clean” performers such as pitchers Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux are eligible for the first time and likely to receive strong support, especially Maddux.

Members of the BBWAA are permitted to vote for as many as 10 players. This scribe, for ...

Tigers agree to two-year deal with Rajai Davis

The Tigers and free agent outfielder Rajai Davis have agreed to a two-year contract. CBSSports.com’s Jon Heyman reports that the deal will pay Davis a total of $10 million.

Davis, 33, hit .260/.312/.375 (88 OPS+) while going 45-for-51 in stolen base attempts in 108 games for the Blue Jays in 2013. Over the last three seasons with Toronto, he’s hit .252/.299/.369 (81 OPS+) with 125 steals in 155 attempts.

Detroit is likely to platoon the right-handed hitting Davis with the left-handed hitting ...

Parking-lot altercation steals the show at winter meetings

While it remains unclear who the men were, context clues from two witnesses to the altercation indicated that the fracas, which featured at least one kick, a handful of wild haymakers and intervention from both a local sheriff and hotel security, happened after one player agent accused another of trying to poach a client.

Stay the [expletive] away from my guy!” one man yelled, according to witnesses who described the chaotic – and amusing – scene to Yahoo Sports in exchange for ...

Janish: Why Curtis Granderson Could Be the Next Jason Bay After All

The Homerun Length Argument

...So, in addition to Granderson’s batting average taking a 30-point nosedive (.262 to .232) in his age-31 season, his homerun distance and balls-off-the-bat speed dropped by almost one MPH. And, according to the overlay, about 8 of his 43 homers would have been swallowed by Flushing Cavern. Maybe closer to a dozen, as I’m not sure whether outfield wall height is factored into the overlay? In fact, although “true distance” takes into account atmospheric ...

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

Joe Tinker quoted in the Salt Lake Tribune, December 12, 1913:

Should any club other than the Cubs or Pirates land me I can only say I feel sorry for the magnate who made the transaction. Under no consideration will I play next season for New York, Brooklyn, Boston, St. Louis, or Philadelphia.

I’m sick of these star ballplayers like Joe Tinker and Albert Belle refusing to even consider playing in New York or Boston.

Baseball America: 2014 Tampa Bay Rays Top 10 Prospects

You’ve got Emeel Salem...still?

TOP 10 PROSPECTS

1. Jake Odorizzi, rhp
2. Hak-Ju Lee, ss
3. Taylor Guerrieri, rhp
4. Enny Romero, lhp
5. Alex Colome, rhp
6. Andrew Toles, of
7. Nick Ciuffo, c
8. Ryan Brett, 2b
9. Tim Beckham, ss/2b
10. Kevin Kiermaier, cf

The Rays also are deep in position players up the middle—including such prospects as shortstops Hak-Ju Lee and Tim Beckham, center fielder Andrew Toles, catcher Nick Ciuffo and second baseman Ryan Brett—thanks in part to a plethora of ...

Keith Olbermann: We Need A New MLB Hall of Fame

Everything was going along fine…until Gil Hodges (tosses stripped Jokers jacket into dumpster).

Heyman: Corey Hart to Seattle on a one year deal.

Don’t switch the blade on the guy in shades, oh no.

Tomo Ohka reportedly has a minor league deal with the Blue Jays

Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reports that the Blue Jays have reached a verbal agreement on a minor league contract with Tomo Ohka, who has reinvented himself as a knuckleballer since he last appeared in the majors in 2009. The expectation is that he’ll begin the year with Double-A New Hampshire.

Mets agree to two-year/20 million contract with Bartolo Colon

The Mets and right-hander Bartolo Colon have agreed to a two-year contract worth $20 million, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com has confirmed. Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports first reported the deal, which is still pending a physical.

Solid move. He’ll give the Mets some innings and the contract isn’t so big that it’ll be a big deal if they have to eat it. I do worry that he’ll give a lot of his value back with baserunning and hitting.

‘Bull Durham’ musical to debut in Atlanta in 2014

It took 20 years to bring the movie to the stage? You know what I call them? Lollygaggers.

Producers announced Wednesday that the new musical will have its world premiere at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta in September 2014. The musical features a script by Ron Shelton, who directed and wrote the original movie, and songs by Susan Werner.

The original movie, which starred Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins, follows a minor league veteran who is sent to Durham, N.C., to coach a ...

Calcaterra: MLB rules committee decides to eliminate collisions at home plate

Joe Torre and Sandy Alderson just announced that the MLB Rules Committee has voted to outlaw collisions at home plate. The decision is now subject to approval by the players.  If the players do not approve the rule change it will not go into effect in 2014, but MLB would be able to unilaterally implement it in 2015. It is expected, however, that the players will approve the change.

The rule has yet to be formally defined or drafted, but the upshot of all of this will be that base runners will ...

Video: Andrew McCutchen Proposed To His Girlfriend On “The Ellen Show”

This whole thing was pretty damn sweet, and it was made all the better by the presence of a sweet-ass top hat. Now, do you have a mom? She probably wants to see this.

Yahoo Sports: Pirates sign RHP Charlie Morton to 3yr/$21 million extension

Solid deal, given the current market.

The Pittsburgh Pirates signed right-hander Charlie Morton to a three-year, $21 million contract extension Wednesday that could be worth up to $30 million, betting on the 30-year-old to continue a successful return from Tommy John surgery and hedging against the increasing price of starting pitching, sources told Yahoo Sports.

Morton’s extension represents the biggest deal given out at an otherwise-slow Winter Meetings and the largest for a pitcher in ...

Encina: Buck Showalter realizes challenge of replacing Jim Johnson is about more than just saves

And get that sabermetrics off my Johnson!

At the Swan and Dolphin Resort during this week’s winter meetings, there are a lot of baseball experts talking about talent, resorting to on-base percentage and WAR to evaluate value.

But how do you measure chemistry? How does having a good clubhouse guy improve your team and your ability to win on the field? And how do you rebound when you lose one?

...So how do you replace chemistry? You can’t measure it on Baseball Reference or FanGraphs, but ...

As Bloomberg departs, a soccer arena deal emerges

No word yet on how Mariano Rivera be honored during the ceremonial implosion of the garages.

According to a confidential outline of the formative deal obtained by Capital New York, the 10-acre site would encompass three of Yankee Stadium’s financially troubled parking lots, a portion of 153rd Street, and a building on the same street now occupied by an elevator parts company called GAL Manufacturing that employs about 400 people.

BBHOF: Eric Nadel Named 2014 Ford C. Frick Award Winner for Broadcasting Excellence

Happy for him, but why not Bill King???

Eric Nadel, who has spent the last 35 years as the voice of the Texas Rangers, has been selected as the 2014 recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award, presented annually for excellence in broadcasting by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

Nadel will be recognized during the Hall of Fame Awards Presentation on Saturday, July 26, as part of Hall of Fame Weekend 2014. Nadel becomes the first primary voice of the Texas Rangers to be honored with the ...

WSJ: For Yankees, Buying a Contender Means Selling the Farm

Parch meant farm. Crack in the system!

And this winter, whatever visions Steinbrenner had of turning the Yankees into a different kind of winning team have been just about shattered.

Because the Yankees had no top prospects on the horizon, the only way they could reinvigorate their roster to the necessary degree was to turn, once again, to the high end of the free-agent market. And because they have done so, they are making it more difficult to improve the weakness that left them in such a ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 12-11-2013

Toledo News-Bee, December 11, 1913:

With the bids for Joe Tinker, deposed manager of the Cincinnati Reds, being constantly raised, it was suggested Thursday that a good auctioneer mount a chair in peacock alley of the Waldorf hotel, and knock down the crack shortstop to the highest bidder of the National league.

Brooklyn is now prepared to pay $30,000 for Tinker, it was stated Thursday. Charles W. Murphy of the Chicago Cubs, just back from Europe said he “would outbid any other man” for ...

Nationals Journal: Zimmerman will see time at first base in 2014

World gone wrong.

By Zimmerman’s comprehension of the Nationals’ plan, he could spell Adam LaRoche in the starting lineup against tough, left-handed starting pitchers roughly 10 to 15 games. He will also be an option to move across the diamond if a double-switch removes LaRoche from the game. In the Nationals’ current plan, he’s a third baseman who will happen to play some first.

“If that’s best for the team, I’m willing to play over there,” Zimmerman said in a phone ...

Sandberg says healthy lineup, and Howard, key to success

Sandberg: Lean: Phillies, Motivation and the Will to Lead.

Where some see an old, complacent lineup in decline, he sees an experienced group that needs to stay healthy in order to put its best bat forward.

“I think motivation is part of the game,” Sandberg said. “I think you can get the players to get (the others) on board to motivate themselves.

“But I also look at our team as an experienced team. Some guys are still capable of putting together good years, and with the balance that ...

NY Times: Murray Chass: As Miller Is Kept Out, His Fame Only Grows

If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.

For the sixth time in 10 years, Marvin Miller was not elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on Monday. Depending on your rooting interest, that is bad news or good news.

It is bad news for those who think the Hall of Fame is the proper place for a person who is widely considered one of three or four men who have had the greatest impact on baseball history. Another of the three is Babe Ruth, and the third is ...

Bruce Jenkins: Columnist proud to add to baseball history

Inside the HOF Expansion Era voting room with Bruce Jenkins. (Bosphorus Bridge…I’m on my way!)

Old-school thinking

What I realized in Orlando, both in informal settings and the three-hour meeting, is that everyone in the room spoke the same language, far removed from the complex lingo of new-age stat devotees. At one point, someone asked if it was necessary to bring WAR, a trendy new stat, into any discussion. There was a bit of mumbling, mostly silence, and it never came up again.

No, this ...

Ranking MLB Managers…by Handsomeness

All week I’ve half-jokingly noted that Brad Ausmus is a handsome, handsome man. As a result of that, people have asked me which manager is next handsome. And next handsome. And next handsome after that. And who’s the least handsome manager too. So, inevitably, it has come to this: a list ranking the managerial beefcake…

1. Brad Ausmus:... There are factions of female baseball fans who have been beating the Ausmus drum for years in various places on the Internet. He is probably the best ...

Colorado Rockies acquire pitcher Brett Anderson from A’s | MLB.com

The Rockies acquired left-handed starting pitcher Brett Anderson and cash considerations from the Athletics on Tuesday for lefty starter Drew Pomeranz and Minor League righty Chris Jensen, the teams announced.

Tennessean: Nashville Sounds’ new ballpark on track for final approval

The Metro Council is poised to give the go-ahead to construction of a new ballpark for the Nashville Sounds tonight, setting the stage for the minor league baseball team to start playing in a new home in 16 months.

Pending approval by the council and a final vote by the Metro Sports Authority on Wednesday, the city will go to market and sell $65 million worth of municipal revenue bonds later this week, Metro Finance Director Rich Riebeling said Monday. A construction manager could be on board ...

Calcaterra: Jonah Keri, Dave Brown and David Schoenfield admitted to the BBWAA

The Baseball Writers Association of America held its annual meeting this morning and admitted three new members to its ranks. They are: Grantland/ESPN’s Jonah Keri, Yahoo!’s Dave Brown and ESPN’s David Schoenfield.

All three are deserving, hard-working baseball writers. All three are also top representatives of online baseball media. It’s very good, both for them and, especially, for the BBWAA, that they are now part of its ranks. It will help the organization move forward and, over ...

Former White Sox great Jack McDowell seeks return to baseball

Stick? Figure not likely.

McDowell, 47, is looking for work as a pitching coach or as a broadcaster—two jobs that would best suit his strengths.

“I’m kind of sifting through things,” McDowell said Tuesday morning. “I just moved to Charlotte (from San Diego) about three months ago, so I’m in a bit of a transition and trying to figure out which direction and what the opportunities are.’‘

McDowell, who won the 1993 American League Cy Young Award with the White Sox, said he’s met with a few ...

D-Backs To Acquire Trumbo In Three-Team Trade With Angels, White Sox

The heavily rumored three-team trade between the Angels, Diamondbacks and White Sox has been completed, a source tells Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. Mark Trumbo and a pair of players to be named later will head to the Diamondbacks, Adam Eaton will join the White Sox and Hector Santiago and Tyler Skaggs are headed to the Angels

Olympics in Future For Baseball, Softball?

This summer, it seemed like baseball’s chances to be in the Olympics again had died, when the International Olympic Committee added wrestling over sports such as baseball on its future Olympic program.

Now that the 2020 Games have been awarded to Tokyo, however, it looks like baseball and softball, in a joint bid, are likely to be added, thanks to a strong push from the host country Japan.

International baseball officials attending the Winter Meetings said new IOC president Thomas Bach was ...