Nick Cafardo: What the Cubs, Red Sox, and other playoff contenders need to do to stay hot

Score more runs than their opponents?

Indians walk off vs. Tigers; magic number at 7 | MLB.com

This is a tough loss.

Carrasco exits: Two pitches into Saturday’s game, Kinsler sent a sharp line drive back up the middle and off Carrasco’s right hand. The pitcher was in clear pain and was removed from the contest. The Indians announced that Carrasco sustained a non-displaced fracture of his fifth metacarpal, which is a bone in the hand located beneath the pinky finger, and is done for the season. That setback initiated an unexpected bullpen day for the Tribe.

Will the Minnesota Twins trade Brian Dozier?

Everyone is available *in the right deal*.

Jerry Weinstein’s new task: managing Israel | MLB.com

Ike Davis is not an edge.

You have a roster of guys with professional experience. Is that an edge?

Weinstein: Sure, but so do the teams from Great Britain and Brazil, and we’ve got a lot of question marks because we’ve got a lot of old guys on there who really haven’t done a whole lot baseball-wise lately, guys like Josh Satin, Ike Davis and Jason Marquis, but we’ve got some names, and it’s a short series. Anything could happen in a short series. I’m optimistic.

...Read More...

Jim Furtado Posted: September 18, 2016 at 07:54 AM | 1 comment(s)
  Beats: coaches, wbc

OMNICHATTER 9-18-16

The “Technically Submitted on the 17th” OMNICHATTER

Giants beat Cardinals again as Posey breaks homer drought - SFGate

Brandon Belt called Buster Posey “pretty stone-faced.” Indeed, Posey usually saves his smiles for World Series clinchings, no-hitters, all that fun stuff.

That Posey was laughing and smiling as soon as he touched home plate, to see him break every rule in the Book of Buster and flash a huge grin and a thumbs-up directly into the dugout camera, underscores how happy and relieved he was to hit his first homer in two months during Friday night’s 8-2 victory against the Cardinals at AT&T ...

Rockies’ Daniel Descalso a vital veteran bat | MLB.com

Coors Field works wonders.

Descalso is hitting a remarkable .272 with an .820 OPS after hitting .205 with a .607 OPS in 2016. He credits his turnaround to a much-improved swing after studying reigning American League Most Valuable Player Josh Donaldson, Mookie Betts, and former Cardinals teammate Matt Carpenter.

“I just found a swing that I can repeat, and that I feel confident in,” Descalso said. “It has just allowed me to simplify my at-bats and just worry about getting good pitches to hit ...

Scott Boras on Britton’s Cy campaign, Alvarez versus lefties and Jones’ comments - BaltimoreBaseball.com

Alvarez is who he is. A left-handed DH with power.

Alvarez will be a free agent at season’s end and Boras believes he’ll be an attractive free agent coveted by a number of teams. (Yes, he always says that, but more times than not his high-profile clients hit the jackpot in free agency).

Boras says he thinks the Orioles will be in the mix for Alvarez this offseason, especially if they don’t think they can keep pending free agent Mark Trumbo and don’t want to lose their surplus of power. ...Read More...

Jim Furtado Posted: September 17, 2016 at 08:27 AM | 23 comment(s)
  Beats: adam jones, orioles, pedro alvarez, scott boras, zach britton

Theo Epstein of Chicago Cubs sits in Wrigley Field bleachers, wears comical disguise

He’s no Bobby Valentine.

Red Sox got short end of deal in Preller suspension

The closer you look at Padres general manager A.J. Preller’s 30-day suspension by Major League Baseball for his part in the Drew Pomeranz-Anderson Espinoza deal on July 14, the more you realize the punishment doesn’t fit the crime.

The Red Sox should be upset they didn’t receive compensation. What happened, according to major league sources, is the Padres didn’t input important information about Pomeranz’s injury history — especially regarding an injury he was receiving treatment ...

OMNICHATTER 9-17-16

The “Theo Epstein in the Bleachers” OMNICHATTER

WP Kinsella, Shoeless Joe author, has died | Vancouver Sun

I enjoyed his work very much.

Twins to interview Chaim Bloom of Tampa Bay Rays

“Chaim is great,” says one longtime baseball man and former department head. “Unlike a lot of those analytics guys, he can actually carry on a conversation.”

Why Courtney Knichel’s job as a baseball GM requires her to wear Converse to work

Probably just a publicity stunt to get fans in the stands to watch the GM.

At first glance, Knichel appears part-stereotype: Her hair is perfectly curled and she wears a large, monogramed necklace. Her office is not only decorated with nine years’ worth of Blue Crabs momentos, but also with a pink base from a breast cancer awareness event and a mug scrawled with “World’s best lady boss” in pink script. On the wall behind her desk, there’s a framed picture of the Blue Crabs’ opening pitch.

If ...

Jose Berrios Is Tipping His Pitches - Minnesota Twins - Articles - Homepage - Twins Daily

Good stuff here.

With end nearing, Ryan Howard will play in final two weekend series in South Philly | PhillyVoice

When the month began, Mackanin said he planned to play Tommy Joseph more at first base in an effort to see more of the younger half of the first base timeshare. But he’s reversed course, knowing that this could be it for Howard.

“I just kept thinking about it, the whole year I’ve been thinking about it, that situation,” Mackanin said. “Especially as well as he’s handled the whole thing, he’s been so good about the whole thing, I want to give him something.”

Mackanin will start ...

State of the Phils: GM Klentak addresses several hot topics with season winding down | PhillyVoice

Interview with Matt Klentak.

The Royals, not too long ago promising, just got dominated by the rotten A’s | The Kansas City Star

Exhibit 2,157,874: Winning is hard.

“It just isn’t happening, man,” said first baseman Eric Hosmer. “I don’t really know, man. There’s no excuses. Didn’t really feel like their pitching was overpowering, or good enough to hold us, but stuff just didn’t happen.”

These are proud professional athletes, and most of them are accomplished at their sport’s highest level, so most will bristle at what is nonetheless a fairly obvious and noncontroversial observation — they tapped ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 9-16-2016

Some high-end snark in the New York Evening World, September 16, 1916:

Benny Kauff has improved his batting wonderfully since he stopped swinging at throws to first to catch the runner napping.
...
After years of experimenting with rook shorstops they have finally decided that the best way to fill Hans Wagner’s shoes is to put ‘em out in the rain.
...
The Giants’ belated rally is somewhat similar to an ice skater reaching the top of his form in June.
...
Physiologists can’t figure out whether ...

Tony Massarotti: I Was Wrong About Hanley Ramirez… This Year « CBS Boston

I usually just ignore Tony Massarotti’s columns but this one popped up on my feed. Tony Massarotti is pretty much wrong about everything. This is just one small example.

All together now: we were wrong about Hanley.

OK, fine.

I was wrong about Hanley.

At least this year.

20 wins does tell us something about a starter. | Sports on Earth

I’m sure you want Brian Kenny’s reaction.

Where @CliffCorcoran tricks you..
Nostalgic, win-loving headline for the rubes..
Enjoy!https://t.co/cN1kNcp9w8

— Brian Kenny (@MrBrianKenny) September 16, 2016

So the win, and the 20-win season in particular, continues to hold sway in the Cy Young Award voting despite a brief glimmer of progress a half decade ago. Indeed, while Porcello is having a fine season, as his 20 wins do indicate, he has not been the AL’s best pitcher to this point in the season. ...

Padres got what they paid for in suspended A.J. Preller | FOX Sports

How does he survive this? Read the whole thing.

Baseball operated without a template in determining Preller’s punishment; no general manager in recent memory has been suspended for such an infraction. Still, some execs believe the penalty for Preller should have been harsher, particularly since he had been disciplined before.

One exec went so far as to equate Preller’s actions to “fraud,” contending that the damage extended to other franchises that wanted to trade pitching to the Padres’ ...

Hanley Ramirez blast caps wild comeback as Red Sox stun Yankees | Boston Herald

I went to bed a little early last night and missed the big comeback. It was a big, happy surprise.

Party’s still on! Cubs clinch NL Central title

The Brewers spoiled the Cubs’ party plans on Thursday, but just before midnight, Chicago was able to celebrate. The Cubs lost, 5-4, to the Brewers after pinch-hitter Scooter Gennett smacked a tiebreaking two-run double in the seventh inning at Wrigley Field. A few hours later, fans were cheering in Wrigleyville. The Cubs were the National League Central champions for the first time since 2008.

The Cubs claimed the division title after the Giants beat the Cardinals, 6-2, in San Francisco late ...

OMNICHATTER 9-16-16

Zestfully Clean OMNICHATTER

Heyman - Top 30 Free Agents And Early Contract Guesses

He hit .346/.426/.654 in June, .280/.357/.550 in July. Kemp was acquired on July 30th. Heyman is a great reporter and a shoddy analyst.

Freddie Freeman continues to be brilliant since Matt Kemp came over as lineup protection. Freeman’s OPS is 1.137 since Kemp got there, 2nd best in majors Say what you want about Kemp’s shape, but he is a presence. And lately, a very big one

Padres GM A.J. Preller suspended 30 days over the Drew Pomeranz trade.

The league has suspended Preller for 30 days:

Major League Baseball has completed an investigation into the July 14th transaction in which pitcher Drew Pomeranz was traded from the San Diego Padres to the Boston Red Sox.  MLB’s Department of Investigations conducted the thorough review, which included interviews with relevant individuals from both Clubs.  The findings were submitted to Commissioner Robert D. Manfred, Jr.

As a result of this matter, Major League Baseball announced today that ...

Miguel Sano to have back injury examined | twinsbaseball.com

Back injuries are the new rage.

The Pirates’ Pitching Magic Ran Out

I bet he can’t bend spoons either.

“I know there are some teams out there who think, ‘Well, you know, we have the best pitching coach in the world, so we’re going to take so-and-so and turn him into something really good,’” Alderson said. “You’ve got to be careful about that. If you get your person at the right price, looking to turn him into something better than what you’ve purchased, fine. But I think you’ve got to be real careful about saying, ‘We’re going to make him ...

Heyman - Backman Didn’t Get Answer He Was Looking For From Mets

After Backman lost his chance at managing the Diamondbacks, his future in baseball was pretty much sealed. That he lasted this long in the Mets system shocks me.

Backman and GM Sandy Alderson didn’t see eye-to-eye on a lot of things, and Marc Carig of Newsday cited a few, such as Backman not agreeing to play Michael Conforto vs. lefties, and not agreeing to bat Brandon Nimmo. Though, in an interview with WFAN, Backman said, “Whoever put that out there, the source within the system, they ...