Fangraphs: Cameron: Welcome Back, Scott Kazmir

Kazmir threw 73 fastballs yesterday [against Oakland], and they were getting progressively harder as the game wore on. The last three fastballs he threw were all 96 mph, and they were pitches 101, 102, and 103 on the day. A guy who lost his spot in Major League Baseball because his fastball was sitting at 86 ended yesterday throwing 96.

Kazmir hasn’t thrown this hard since his early days with Tampa Bay, and yesterday, we saw what Scott Kazmir with a lively fastball can look like. 72 of his 103 pitches were strikes, and 13 of his 19 swinging strikes came off the fastball. The slider is his swing and miss pitch, but he has to get ahead in the count in order to get people to chase it. Yesterday’s fastball got him ahead in the count all day long, because he was able to pound the strike zone with confidence. [...]

There are a few pitches up and away that weren’t close, but it’s mostly fastballs in the zone, sliders down and in, and change-ups at the bottom of the strike zone. That’s the strike zone plot of a guy with command who isn’t afraid to challenge hitters. And Kazmir was throwing pitches that were a challenge, even in the strike zone.

If you watch the MLB.com video [http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=26972173&topic_id=vtp_head_and_shoulders&c_id=mlb&tcid=vpp_copy_26972173&v=3] of his 10 strikeouts yesterday, you’ll notice that most of them come on fastballs. There’s a few sliders in there, but it’s a lot of hit-this-if-you-can heat, and Oakland’s hitters couldn’t hit it.

ESPN - Grant Balfour: The mouth that roars

An article about the on-the-mound rage of one of my all-time favorite Rays

“I respect the game, and I respect the guys,” he says. “But if you hit a double and you’re standing at second base doing [bleeping] cartwheels and slamming basketballs and whatever else they do these days, I figure: Screw it. You’re not going to ##### when I’m out there doing my thing.”

Can anyone explain why the A’s are good?

The 2011 Oakland A’s offense was, in a word, inept. As a team, the Athletics hit .244/.311/.369. They finished 20th in runs scored and 24th in home runs. Just one player on the entire roster hit higher than .265 that season: Jemile Weeks, the team’s primary second baseman, who managed just two homers all year. On the final day of the 2011 season, with the A’s out of contention, the Mariners let Oakland hitters stand on the outfield grass for all their at-bats; not a single player reached the warning track.

Mercury News: MLB Commissioner Bud Selig rebuffs San Jose mayor’s meeting request

SAN JOSE—Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig has brushed back San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed’s formal request last week for a personal meeting to resolve issues holding up the Oakland A’s desired move to his city.

And Selig in his April 4 response added that Reed’s reference in an April 2 letter to “additional litigation” over the proposed A’s move “is neither productive nor consistent with process that the Athletics have initiated under our rules.”

Selig wrote that the committee he appointed more than four years ago to study the A’s plan for a downtown San Jose ballpark has been in “frequent contact” with the city.

“If you believe there is additional information that Major League Baseball should consider in completing its assessment,” Selig wrote, “the best way to proceed at this time continues to be for you to contact Robert Starkey or other members of the committee.”

Reed said Wednesday that he would follow the commissioner’s suggestion to set up a meeting with Starkey, a sports consultant and former accountant who had worked with Selig on stadium issues for the Minnesota Twins. Reed called it encouraging to get a response from the commissioner.

“It’s movement, it’s a little something,” Reed said. “I’d just like to have that conversation. What are the problems?”

Lee: Cespedes thrilled to have mother, family join him in US

A good story.  Cespedes’ mother sounds appropriately wonderful.

For more than a year, [Cespedes’ mother Estela] Milanes and 11 other family members were engaged in a lengthy struggle to emigrate from Cuba to the United States and join Cespedes, who defected from Cuba to the Dominican Republic in the summer of 2011 to seek an opportunity as a Major League Baseball player.  Cespedes, ultimately signed at age 26 by the A’s to a four-year deal worth $36 million, was in contact with his family maybe 10 times during the first four months of the 2012 season. At one point, they were off the map and out of contact for three or four days.

“I had no idea where my family was,” Cespedes said through translator Ariel Prieto. “They just disappeared.”

They soon found safety, but it was fleeting. In October, following an extensive stay in the Dominican Republic, they were captured in a raid and detained as illegal immigrants in the Turks and Caicos Islands, falling under suspicion of being the subject of a human trafficking ring, according to the Turks and Caicos Sun.

Today, they are in Miami, and they were all treated to a surprise visit by Cespedes this weekend, mere hours after safely arriving in the United States. Cespedes left the A’s to welcome his family on Saturday night, landing at their doorstep the next morning around 6 a.m.

Neyer: All Mike Piazza wants is your love

Behold!

Mike Piazza’s got a new autobiography in the bookstores, and I spent a week sort of semi-obsessed with it.  I can’t figure out precisely why this particular ex-ballplayer’s memoir got inside my head. But I have a couple of ideas.

One, the book is exceptionally well-written, which isn’t all that surprising, considering Piazza’s co-author was Lonnie Wheeler, who’s written or co-written a number of fine books over the years… And two, Mike Piazza—and I should be very clear that when I write “Mike Piazza,” I’m referring to the character we meet in the book—comes across as something of a case study in narcissism…

Mike Piazza really, really, really gives a damn what everybody thinks about him.

He really wants you to think he was a great hitter. Piazza hit 427 home runs in his career, and he mentions something like a hundred of them. He’s got the record for the most home runs by a catcher. And right after the section where he talks about breaking the old record, he launches into an extended discourse about what a great player he was. Like he’s trying to convince us, yes ... but also as if maybe he’s trying to convince himself.

He really wants us to think he’s not gay, and that beautiful women—Playboy models mostly, and Baywatch actresses—find him incredibly appealing. I wish the otherwise-estimable index listed mentions of “Playmate”, “Baywatch”, and “actress”. But there are a lot of them in there…

I really can’t recommend this book to readers. Again, it’s well-written. But there just isn’t enough material that isn’t Mike Piazza begging for validation…

here’s the one paragraph that best encapsulates Piazza in all his pleading, narcissistic glory:

I’d be less than truthful if I didn’t admit my legacy is something I ponder quite a bit. Mostly, it bewilders me. I honestly don’t know why it is, exactly, that, from start to finish, I’ve been the object of so much controversy, resentment, skepticism, scrutiny, criticism, rumor, and doubt. I’ve thought about it quite a bit. Maybe it’s because my dad was rich. Maybe it’s because Tommy Lasorda looked after me. Maybe it’s because, off the field, I didn’t make much news on my own account and the press figured it had to latch on to something that resembled it. Maybe it’s because I was a jerk from time to time. Whatever the reason, I suppose I might be a little oversensitive about it all, except that I feel I’m defending more than just my reputation. I’m standing up for what I consider to be—deeply wish to be—a fundamentally and triumphantly American story.

That’s some speech. I doubt if those words came straight from Mike Piazza’s lips. Which is one reason I’m reluctant to engage in psychoanalysis (the other is that I’m incredibly unqualified). But the “Mike Piazza” within the pages of this book is a sad, lonely man who seems little closer to adulthood than the brat who blew off Roy Campanella’s funeral 20 years ago.

20 Years Later: A Sabermetric Look at the Springfield Isotopes

Only Griffey was young (how Burns was able to pry a 22-year-old Ken Griffey away from the Mariners is a mystery). Other than him, only Canseco and Clemens could still have been considered in their prime. That’s a very old infield. Most of the players had strong 1991 seasons, so you can understand their appeal to Burns, but buying a year late is a common problem in baseball. Heading into the season, the team had no depth. Most glaringly, there was but one pitcher with big league experience, which poses a serious problem for any team hoping to contend (unless that one pitcher is Old Hoss Radbourn). Burns was eventually able to put together a bullpen and the rest of a starting rotation filled with average players, but the team’s bench would be made up almost entirely of replacement level hacks, player’s who’d never played at that level before and frankly, mostly lacked the talent for it.

Homer, homers and WAR!

Enrique Soto Sentenced To Ten Years In Prison

Enrique Soto, one of baseball’s most prominent trainers in the Dominican Republic for the last two decades, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after being convicted of charges of sexually assaulting two boys that were part of his academy 10 years ago, according to a report that first aired Monday night in the Dominican Republic on Noticias Sin.

Better late than never.

SI: Steroid Era, A-Rod won’t go away but give MLB a break here

Major League Baseball has suffered its share of indignities because of the Steroid Era: reacting slowly to a growing problem, issuing the heavily criticized Mitchell Report (which was maligned for being incomplete and seemingly ineffectual) and watching as cherished milestones were reached and records set by players later linked to PEDs. Just three weeks ago, a Hall of Fame ballot brimming with statistically deserving players failed to produce a single inductee.
But perhaps it’s time that thinking changed somewhat. In this case Major League Baseball—through its Department of Investigations, which was created on the recommendation of the Mitchell Report—was already aware of the clinic in the Miami area. Soon after the Miami New Times report was published, the league released a statement that began as follows:

“We are always extremely disappointed to learn of potential links between players and the use of performance-enhancing substances. These developments, however, provide evidence of the comprehensive nature of our anti-drug efforts. Through our Department of Investigations, we have been actively involved in the issues in South Florida.”

We don’t have to take just MLB’s word for it. The New York Daily News, citing a law-enforcement source, reported on Saturday that a league investigation into Anthony Bosch was already underway. The league’s investigation is continuing, and the players named by the Miami New Times will likely be interviewed about the allegations. The league’s capacity to conduct such an investigation comes from a recommendation of the Mitchell Report, which wrote that “the Commissioner should establish a Department of Investigations.”

Read This Comic: Baseball Superstars, Jose Canseco

body switching, celebrity fights, and mayoral campaigns,  there was simply Jose Canseco: professional baseball masher and suspected steroid user. Let’s take a walk down memory lane, shall we, with the “unauthorized and proud of it” issue of Baseball Superstars Comics: Jose Canseco. 

Author Mitzuko Herrera sounds like a Front Page Sports: Baseball generated player.

Long before the reality shows, body switching, celebrity fights, and mayoral campaigns,  there was simply Jose Canseco: professional baseball masher and suspected steroid user. Let’s take a walk down memory lane, shall we, with the “unauthorized and proud of it” issue of Baseball Superstars Comics: Jose Canseco. 

WaPo: Kilgore: Nationals trade Morse for Cole in 3-team deal

Man without a position Mike “Michael” Morse goes to Seattle, the place where it all began for him

Oakland’s AJ Cole returns to the Nationals, in a Gio Gonzalez-esque reversal, having left last year in exchange for Gio Gonzalez

2012 Mariners’ best hitter by far, John Jaso, goes to Oakland

TMZ.com: Ex-MLB star Milton Bradley Faces 13 Charges In Spousal Abuse Case

Former Los Angeles Dodger Milton Bradley was charged today with 13 counts related to several alleged attacks on his estranged wife, and could get up to 13 years behind bars ... TMZ has learned.

The City Attorney’s Office has filed charges against Bradley stemming from 5 different incidents. The charges break down like this: 4 counts of spousal battery, 4 counts of criminal threats, 2 counts of assault with a deadly weapon, 2 counts of vandalism and 1 count of dissuading a witness from making a report.

AZ Republic: A’s, Mesa near deal for Hohokam Stadium

A move by the Oakland Athletics to Hohokam Stadium is all but a done deal, thanks to action Thursday by the Mesa City Council.

The council approved a memorandum of understanding sketching the broad outlines of an agreement that will bring the A’s to Mesa for at least 20 years, with options for two five-year extensions.

Oakland conducted spring training in Mesa 1969-78 — an era whose legendary teams won consecutive World Series 1972-74.

“We think they’re sort of coming home,” Mayor Scott Smith said. “When I was in junior high and high school, the A’s were the team in Mesa with Reggie Jackson, Sal Bando, Rick Monday — the ASU trio.”

Oakland has trained at Phoenix Municipal Stadium since 1984. But their lease expires at the end of 2014, the same year the Phoenix stadium turns 50, and the team couldn’t reach an agreement with Phoenix about upgrading the ballpark.

Phoenix Muni is now seen as the most likely future home for the Arizona State University baseball team, which would be displaced if ASU moves ahead with plans to redevelop the site of Packard Stadium.

Lower in the story, there’s this weirdness:

Wolff said Phoenix had told the A’s it couldn’t afford to upgrade Muni to match the team’s desires. “We really needed a major remodeling of the Municipal Stadium,” he said. Lacking that, “we started looking for another option.”

The expiration of Oakland’s contract with Phoenix was perfectly timed, he said, with the Cubs’ departure from Hohokam, leaving a window during which Hohokam can be renovated before the A’s begin playing there.

“We try to fulfill all of our contracts,” Wolff said. “Sometimes we wish our players would do the same.”

Now what’s THAT about?

Hardballtalk: Hiroyuki Nakajima says he signed with the A’s because Billy Beane is “extremely sexy and cool”

Things got a little steamy today at the press conference introducing new A’s shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima:

Susan Slusser@susanslusser
Nakajima says he wanted to sign with #Athletics because “Billy Beane is extremely sexy and cool.”

18 Dec 12

Susan Slusser@susanslusser
And now Billy Beane calls Nakajima “extremely sexy and cool.” Best press conference ever. #Athletics

This puts the hard in hardballtalk.

Slusser: A’s signing two-year, $6.5 million deal with Hiroyuki Nakajima

With Pennington shipped out and Drew signed with Boston, who’s playing SS for the A’s?

The deal is for $6.5 million in guaranteed money but is also loaded with incentives and escalators. There is also an option for a third year at $5.5 million. Last year the Yankees won bidding rights on the Seibu Lions shortstop but were unable to reach a deal with him.

That didn’t take long.

Selig drops “F” bomb. Only casualty is A’s stadium.

File under the heading of beating a dead mule.

Source: A’s interested in Manny Ramirez

Just BillybeingBilly.

The Oakland Athletics are “very interested” in making Manny Ramirez their designated hitter next season, a source told ESPNDeportesLosAngeles.com.

Ramirez, 39, has been working out in Miami since December and has plans to have open workout sessions for clubs interested in his services at the end of January.

Last week, ESPNDeportesLosAngeles.com reported that the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays had a look at Ramirez batting in an indoor cage.

“The Orioles and Blue Jays saw Manny work and Baltimore liked what it saw, but Oakland has been the team that has expressed the most interest, even before having him work out,” the source said.

Ramirez, a .312 lifetime hitter with 555 home runs and 1,831 career RBIs over 19 seasons, was reinstated by Major League Baseball from the “voluntarily retired” list after the Dominican player opted to leave the game instead of serving a second suspension for violating the league’s banned substances policy in 2011 while playing for the Tampa Bay Rays.

Camden Depot: Rick Peterson Breaks Fewer Pitchers?

Jon Shepherd takes a first look at Rick Peterson’s record in keeping pitchers off the disabled list.

Rick Peterson and his pitching lab will apparently be in full effect for the Orioles in 2012.  His analytical technique has been hailed as a major prevention tool against injuries.  I have disabled list numbers of starting pitchers from part of his tenure with the A’s and all of his tenure with the Mets, giving us a time line from 2001 to 2007.  I also have disabled numbers of Orioles’ starting pitchers in 2009 and 2010.

Jonny Gomes to Sign with A’s

The Oakland Athletics are poised to sign Jonny Gomes, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Slusser points out that he’s a local favorite set to join the club after Billy Beane indicated after the Seth Smith trade that he could be looking for more depth in the outfield.

Gomes, 31, has spent most of his career with the Tampa Bay Rays but was with the Cincinnati Reds for a couple seasons and then spent part of 2011 in DC. He’s never been an especially good hitter (being kind to the guy with the mohawk, ok?) but does have a little pop, with a career line of .242 / .329 / .451. If you’re playing at home, think Adam Dunn without the walks.

Thanks to Ferg.

Orlando Cabrera To Retire From Baseball

OH NO, EXPO!

Last season, Orlando Cabrera batted .238 with the Indians and Giants, posting a 61 OPS+. The season before that, he posted a 76 OPS+. The season before that, he posted an 85 OPS+. Orlando Cabrera has been declining, and just turned 37 years old. As a free agent, Cabrera didn’t drum up much interest, which I’m guessing is why he’s intending to hang ‘em up. Enrique Rojas:

  “Orlando Cabrera to retire from baseball, he said in Colombia radio station. Thanks for memories!”

Cabrera had a long career that’ll be difficult to forget. He debuted with the Expos in 1997, and remained there until the giant Nomar Garciaparra three-way trade in 2004. That year, with the Red Sox, Cabrera won a World Series. He wound up with the Angels, earning the unfortunate nickname “The Wizard of O.C.”, and then he wound up with the White Sox, and the A’s, and the Twins, and the Reds, and the Indians, and the Giants ... He remained a shortstop to the end, and collected 2,055 hits. He will always be remembered as a pest. An absolute pest.

A’s trade Moscoso, Outman for Seth Smith

#### THE GOLDEN GLOBES!

Billy Beane’s Oakland A’s continued their extreme offseason makeover Monday with yet another trade. This time Beane shipped pitchers Josh Outman and Guillermo Moscoso to the Rockies for outfielder Seth Smith—who has been involved in trade rumors throughout the offseason.

Smith, 29, has served mostly as a fourth outfielder type for the Rockies since 2008, but he got a career high 533 plate appearances last season. He hit .284/.347/.483 with 15 homers, 32 doubles and 10 stolen bases. He hasn’t played center field since 2008, so he’s best used as a corner outfielder. He’ll likely be the starter in left field with Coco Crisp in center and Josh Reddick in right. Of course, prospect Michael Taylor is going to figure in the mix at some point.

One item of note: Smith’s career splits indicate he was hugely helped by Coors Field. He’s hit .296/.366/.559 at home and .257/.332/.418 on the road. And Oakland plays in one of the worst hitters’ parks in the majors.

Moscoso, 28, was 8-10 with a 3.38 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 74 strikeouts in 128 innings last season. Outman, 27, was 3-5 with a 3.70 ERA, 1.46 WHIP and 35 strikeouts in 58 1/3 innings. And, again, we’ll note that these two pitchers are going from having a very pitcher-friendly home park to one of the most hitter-friendly yards in the bigs.

Oakland manager Melvin excited about Japan series

The Athletics and Seattle Mariners open the regular season with a two-game series at Tokyo Dome on March 28-29. Many hoped the series would feature a showdown between Matsui and countryman Ichiro Suzuki, but Melvin said the A’s likely wont be re-signing the 37-year-old free agent Matsui.

“Matsui was a great fit for us last year and we all loved having him on our team,’’ Melvin said at a press conference on Monday to promote the series. “But this year it doesn’t look like a fit for us based on the personnel we have going forward.’‘

...Suzuki also had a down season in 2011. For the first time in his career, He failed to reach 200 hits - finishing with 184 - and hit a career-worst .272. Other numbers were lower too, including on-base percentage, infield hits and home runs, while he struck out a career-high 69 times.

Former Seattle star Ken Griffey Jr., who now serves as a special consultant to the Mariners, said he expects Suzuki to bounce back this season.

“Ichiro is going to be fine, you can ask these two guys (Melvin, Wedge) if a guy had 184 hits they wouldn’t be complaining,’’ Griffey said. “But you are looking at a guy who is a special athlete. He had one hiccup in his career and come this time next year we won’t even be talking about this. He is going to come into this season determined and with a little fire.’‘

Hiccup?...That was a freakin’ Dave McNally tally if ever!

Phil Rogers: Bean-counting GM Beane deserves a better place to work

And furthermore

(bullet) MLB should have a minimum payroll. It would require all teams to at least attempt to be somewhat competitive, and fairness is an issue. For instance, how much of an advantage will the Angels and Rangers have in the wild-card race because they have 19 games each against Oakland?

(bullet) According to Bill James’ projections, the Athletics’ most productive hitter next season will be DH Brandon Allen, with a slash line of .243/.327/.449, 22 home runs and 71 RBIs.

(bullet) Melvin is a major upgrade in the dugout, probably the best manager they’ve had since Tony La Russa (although Art Howe was much better than the movie’s portrayal by Philip Seymour Hoffman suggests).

(bullet) MLB scoffs at Forbes’ projections, but they’re the best available.

(bullet) Wolff is very close to Selig, but so far that does not appear to have gained him any advantages.

(bullitt) There are bad writers and there are good writers - and then there’s Rogers.

MLB Trade Rumors: Bartolo Colon Agrees to Sign With Unknown Team

Bartolo Colon has agreed to a deal with an unknown club reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today (on Twitter). The right-hander wouldn’t divulge the team because he has not yet passed his physical.

Pretty sure it’s either the All-Stars or the Champs.

On DVD: Moneyball’s deleted scenes reveal the numbers game

The deleted scene in question features Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) discussing the team’s relief pitchers with field manager Art Howe (Philip Seymour Hoffman). The two butt heads several times in the film, as Beane recommends fielding undervalued, unorthodox players over the objections of the more conservative Howe.

This time he’s singing the praises of Chad Bradford over Mike Magnante. He concludes his own pitch by telling Howe to bring Bradford out of the bullpen no matter what. “If we’re in, let’s say to make it easier on you, any situation. OK? Righty, lefty, two outs, one out, the umpires want to finish the game throwing darts … Bradford!”

It’s no surprise, however, when Howe does the opposite. Magnante promptly gives up a home run, and the crowd boos lustily. Beane then makes a rare (and illegal) trip to the dugout during the game to tell Howe what a costly f-you that was, and adds: “Those boos; they’re for you. Drink up.”

It’s a clever scene, probably cut only because we see so much sniping between Beane and Howe that their animosity is already clear.

Thanks to Nroll.