Bobby Valentine Gives Perfectly Bobby V Response To David Ortiz « CBS Boston

Managers are now childcare workers. 

“After doing it about the third time, I asked [Aviles] what his problem was, was it hearing or learning?” joked Valentine. “And afterwards it was like this major – and I said it with a loud voice, I might have even used an expletive or two to get my point across – but afterwards, three or four of the guys came in and said how Mike was in his locker and his head was down and he felt so bad and I had to apologize because I hurt his feelings and ...

Bryce Harper’s strange signing for 2018 won’t mean much in the long run | FOX Sports

This is a bit odd.

The oddest of tea leaves fell on Saturday — news that Bryce Harper and the Nationals had agreed upon a $21.625 million contract for 2018, avoiding his final year of arbitration.

I cannot recall another deal like this being struck in mid-May, and the curious timing raised the usual questions about Harper’s future with the Nats, and whether he will sign an extension before reaching free agency.

MLB umpire supervisor Steve Palermo dies at 67

RIP to a class act and a genuine hero.

Palermo made his debut as an American League umpire in 1976 and was a full-time ump from ‘77-91.
During the summer of 1991, Palermo and another man were shot while trying to help two waitresses who were being robbed outside a Dallas restaurant. He was left partially paralyzed. But through intense and painful therapy, Palermo was able to walk again with the help of a cane.
Palermo was hired in 1994 as a special assistant to the chairman of the Major League ...

Sports on Earth:  If the Yanks Retired Every Number .

22—Allie Reynolds, RHP, 1947-1954

Acquired from Cleveland straight-up for Hall of Famer Joe Gordon after the 1946 season, the hard-throwing Reynolds was a five-time All-Star and six-time World Champion in New York, finishing in the top three in the AL MVP Award voting in both 1950 and ‘51. Primarily a starter, he also appeared regularly in relief, both in the regular season and World Series….

43—Jeff Nelson, RHP, 1996-2000, 2003

A right-handed, side-arming set-up man with the Frisbee slider ...

Your mom posted to OMNICHATTER all night long, on May 14, 2017

Yankees announce they have placed LHP Aroldis Chapman on the 10-day disabled list

Yankees announce they have placed LHP Aroldis Chapman on the 10-day disabled list (retroactive to May 13) with left shoulder rotator cuff inflammation; recalled RHP Chad Green from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Why MLB trades may fly early with a loaded pitching market | New York Post

An NL executive declared, “If my team were out of it, I would definitely jump the market.”

The early favorite to sell first is the Royals. Multiple scouts have told me that many of their Kansas City brethren already have had their pro coverage rearranged to delve deeper into systems of likely buyers such as the Yankees, Red Sox and Cubs. Royals general manager Dayton Moore disputed that, writing in a text: “our scouting strategy hasn’t changed since 2007.”

Still, another AL ...

The mechanical flaw Stairs found that could get Maikel Franco on track | PhillyVoice

I’ve read other articles about his change in approach. At some point, though, it needs to show up in his regular batting line.

“I just have one month here, less than 50 games,” Franco said Saturday. “We’ve got a long way to go, 4 1/2 months. Everything is going to change. I don’t have to worry about where my average is right now and what I have to do, the only thing I have to do is get my rhythm back, get my confidence back, and if I do all of that, everything is going to be ...

Happy Mother’s Day, baseball fans - Twinkie Town

Although my mother sometimes questioned how much time I devoted to baseball, she supported my interests. Without that support this site never would have existed. Thanks, Mom! <3

These bullpens are saving — and sinking — some seasons

Bullpenning.

Sunday Notes: Happ on Hitting, Cash on Jeter, Mackanin, Montgomery, more | FanGraphs Baseball

David Laurila’s latest.

How Derek Jeter turned a simple number into an invincible brand | New York Post

Happy Derek Jeter Day!

Jon Lester calls slide rule ‘BS,’ says game being played by ‘pansies’ | Chicago Sun-Times

Alternative plan: bubble wrap.

Cubs promote 2015 No. 1 pick Ian Happ

The Cubs promoted 2015 No. 1 pick Ian Happ for Saturday’s game against the Cardinals in the wake of various ailments to several players.
...
“His spring training was fabulous,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. “He got off to a good start at Triple-A. We needed him. He’s here.

“How long is he going to stay? I have no idea. It could be short. It could be longer than that. I don’t know.”
...
“We love the way he plays second base, but we want to get him reps all over the place, and I think ...

Angels’ Garrett Richards hoping for a return in August

Team doctors made Richards aware of two cases similar to his. In 2004, right-hander Brad Penny felt biceps nerve irritation shortly after the Dodgers acquired him at the trade deadline and effectively missed two months. That same year, St. Louis right-hander Chris Carpenter missed the season’s last two weeks and the Cardinals’ World Series run with the same condition.

“What I’ve been told is theirs were worse than mine,” Richards said. “So, if it took them all offseason to get back ...

Bryce Harper agrees to $21.625 million deal with Nats for ‘18

The Washington Nationals have agreed to terms with star right fielder Bryce Harper on a contract for the 2018 season, the team announced Saturday.

Harper will make $21.625 million next season, as first reported by FanRag Sports and confirmed by ESPN.

Doc, it only hurts when I OMNICHATTER, for May 13, 2017

Looking Back at the 1992 Expansion Draft (Part 2) - MLB Trade Rumors

Can we have another expansion and get rid of interleague play?

Tebow to be promoted soon

Tim Tebow’s recent surge at Single-A Columbia — he has a .849 OPS over his last 16 games — hasn’t gone unnoticed by team officials.

According to a club source, there has been discussion about moving the former Heisman Trophy winner to a higher level…

Jeter-Bush Have Cash-Raising Woes for Marlins Bid, Giving Romney Leg Up

Doug Hanks @doug_hanks
Untold story behind this: Bush people really don’t like the Romney people. Blame them for bad press.

But what might look good in theory is proving to be a difficult sale with potential investors, as many have declined an invitation to become silent partners of the Jeter-Bush team. Both Jeter and Bush are wealthy, but they are far from billionaires, and are planning to invest just $50 million combined, while raising money from outside investors, people with direct ...

Doug DeCinces convicted of insider trading, awaits sentencing

Former All-Star Doug DeCinces was convicted Friday of insider trading for a stock buy that earned him more than $1 million.

The ex-Baltimore Orioles and Angels third baseman was convicted of 14 federal charges. According to the Orange County Register, each count potentially carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.

Jurors deadlocked on 18 other charges and a judge declared a mistrial for those counts, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

OMNICHATTER isn’t mad, just disappointed with your choices on May 12, 2017

Jim Callis mock projection 2017 MLB Draft | MLB.com

1. Twins: Brendan McKay, 1B/LHP, Louisville
Minnesota narrowed its field of contenders to the five players named above, plus Virginia first baseman Pavin Smith and Texas high school right-hander Shane Baz. Most clubs expect the Twins to take McKay, the best two-way prospect in more than four decades, rather than make Greene the first prep righty selected No. 1 overall. Whether they’ll take McKay as a first baseman or lefty starter, or even let him try to do both for a while, is unclear.

2. ...

New crop of sluggers head HR leaderboard | MLB.com

Yes, Yonder Alonso.

Updated Top 100 Prospects Chat (May 11) | BaseballAmerica.com

BA’s Top 100 Prospect Chat.

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 5-12-2017

Chicago Eagle, May 12, 1917:

Hub Perdue of Gallatin, Ky., a veteran of the majors, now pitching with the Louisville club of the American association, believes he has the regular definition of a “gink.” “A gink,” Hub said, in his Southern drawl, “is a fellah with mud on his boots the yeah ‘round who lives so fah back in the woods that the owls sleep with his chickens, and he uses a ‘possum for a watchdog.”

I don’t use the word “gink” often enough.

Anyway, Hub was a fun player, one of the early ...

David Ortiz Calls Out Bobby Valentine In New Book: “Aggravating As Hell, Arrogant And Disrespectful

As excerpted by Sports Illustrated this week, Ortiz’s book describes Valentine as unreasonable and impossible to communicate with:

The drama began almost immediately in spring training. I remember fighting the thought, very early, We’re going to have an absolutely terrible year.

It was all about him in the spring. It was as if he wanted to prove how smart he was by running us through all these drills he’d used while managing in Japan, drills we had never done before. Bobby was in his ...

Looking Back At The 1992 Expansion Draft (Part 1)

Dave Dombrowski and Bob Gebhard get in on the ground floor. Too bad the elevators hadn’t been installed yet.

Fantasy Life: An Interview with Tabitha Soren

In 2003, Tabitha Soren went to the Oakland A’s spring training in Phoenix with her husband, Michael Lewis, who had just finished writing a book about the Oakland A’s front office, Moneyball, which would be published later that year. Soren brought her camera; she wasn’t a baseball fan, and she thought she would be bored. “I thought it was going to be a pretty place to shoot,” she told me when we spoke over the phone. She didn’t expect that project she began there would take her ...

Authorities believe a high level of OMNICHATTER was involved, May 11, 2017