Evan Drellich: David Price contradicts himself over and over again

If players are bothered by Eckersley’s comments, the solution for them is to grow up.

Claire Smith receives Spink Award from HOF | MLB.com

Standing outside the door and needing quotes, Smith implored a fellow writer to ask Garvey to come out to talk to her. Garvey soon appeared, and Smith, exhausted and panicked with a deadline, started to break down.

“When he saw that I was becoming emotional after having been manhandled, he uttered the most important words an athlete ever said to me,” Smith said. “‘I will stay here as long as you need me to, but remember, you have a job to do.’”

At this point in the speech, Smith asked Garvey ...

MLBTR: Twins, Yankees Moving Toward Jaime Garcia Trade

The Twins are sellers now? What a difference a week makes.

7:10am: Talks between the Twins and Yankees are “at the 1-yard line,” tweets ESPN’s Buster Olney. The Yankees will continue to talk to the A’s about acquiring Gray as well even after the Garcia trade is finalized.

12:53am: Yankees Double-A pitching prospect Zack Littell is part of the talks, tweets Jon Morosi of MLB Network. The Yankees scratched the righty from his start Saturday. MLB.com ranks Littell as New York’s 22nd-best ...

Robbie Ray to concussion protocol after line drive to head

Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said pitcher Robbie Ray, who was hit in the head by a line drive during Friday night’s game against St. Louis, is doing well and will be put in concussion protocol.

A line drive by Luke Voit hit Ray squarely in the head in the second inning. Ray, a left-hander, dropped flat on the mound.

Thoughts and prayers to #Dbacks Robbie Ray after this ball to the head.pic.twitter.com/sEIM1RdPB8

— MLB Memes (@MLBMeme) July 29, 2017

pic.twitter.com/sOY4MjoOCq

— ...

What is wrong with the AL East’s most talented team

It’s all about structure

You’ve got to fight! For your right! To OMNICHATTER, for the weekend of July 29-30, 2017

Eric Hosmer crushing with fewer ground balls | MLB.com

Interestingly enough, Hosmer has done all this by hitting the ball with less authority. That 43 percent hard-hit rate has dropped to 40 percent since April 26, and just 33 percent over the past month. While hitting the ball hard is the most important thing a hitter can do, Hosmer appears to have found a nice middle ground, trading some exit velocity for elevation and location. Since hard-hit balls on the ground don’t help him, this is better.

Now whether or not this is a hot streak or “the new ...

Yankees’ Masahiro Tanaka dominates Rays | MLB.com

Tanaka’s Jekyll and Hyde season continues.

3 trades highlight busy Friday near Deadline | MLB.com

I guess the Orioles aren’t selling.

The Phillies were active on the trade front Friday night, sending infielder/outfielder Howie Kendrick to the Nationals, and right-hander Jeremy Hellickson to the Orioles. With Monday’s non-waiver Trade Deadline looming, the Marlins and Mets also completed a deal that sent Miami closer AJ Ramos to New York.

Phillies trade Jeremy Hellickson to Baltimore Orioles

That last start proved to be unnecessary as the Phillies, according to a report by MLB.com, traded Hellickson and cash considerations to Baltimore in exchange for outfielder Hyun Soo Kim, lefthanded pitching prospect Garrett Cleavinger and international signing bonus pool space. The trade occurred a few hours after he was scratched just 30 minutes before he was set to take the mound, signaling the likelihood that a deal was near. Hellickson was replaced by Jake Thompson, who pitched five ...

Mets bolster bullpen with pickup of A.J. Ramos from Marlins

The New York Mets have acquired reliever A.J. Ramos from the Miami Marlins for a pair of prospects: Class A pitcher Merandy Gonzalez and outfielder Ricardo Cespedes.

New York is seeking stability in a bullpen that’s been a mess since the loss of Jeurys Familia, who served a domestic violence suspension at the start of the season and then got hurt. The Mets have blown 13 of 36 save opportunities entering Friday’s game in Seattle and rank 26th in the major leagues in bullpen ERA at 4.81

...Read More...

RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: July 29, 2017 at 12:27 AM | 7 comment(s)
  Beats: a.j. ramos, marlins, mets

Nationals Acquire Howie Kendrick

The Nationals have struck a deal to acquire infielder/outfielder Howie Kendrick from the Phillies in exchange for minor league left-hander McKenzie Mills, reports PhillyVoice.com’s Ryan Lawrence (Twitter links). Ken Rosenthal of MLB Network first reported that the Nats were working on a deal to land Kendrick (on Twitter).

The 34-year-old Kendrick hasn’t had his healthiest season, but he’s been extremely productive when on the field. Through 156 plate appearances, he’s posted a ...

NEWEST CBA COULD DIMINISH BIGGEST SPENDER’S DRAFT PICKS

The new CBA adds two surcharge thresholds on top of the competitive balance tax that was included in the previous CBA. Spend more than $217 million in 2018 and a team will be hit with an additional 12 percent tax on top of the 20 percent, 30 percent or 50 percent tax they will be hit with (depending on how many consecutive years they have exceeded the tax threshold).

But the penalties really kick in for a team that spends more than $237 million in 2018. Not only will the franchise be hit with ...

Major League Baseball Has A Cocaine Problem

The player, who told me this story under the condition that no one in it be named, ended up with three organizations before retiring last year. During his career, he said, he used cocaine “a handful” of times and marijuana frequently. “Of the 400 days of [big league] service time I had, I probably smoked on 150 of them,” he told me. “A lot of guys would wake up at 9 a.m. and smoke, but I never wanted to do anything mind-altering until after the game.”

The above anecdote is far from ...

Was it over when the Germans bombed OMNICHATTER? Hell no! for July 28, 2017

How to Get to Cooperstown - WSJ

Another glowing review of Cooperstown Confidential.

Major League Baseball Has A Cocaine Problem

Don’t have any idea if this is true, but if it is, it is a serious problem. The author’s sources suggest 25% of players are cocaine users. I think this is worse than steroids. At least those players are trying to be better.

David Price plagued with left elbow woes again | MLB.com

Ugh.

A topsy-turvy season for Red Sox lefty David Price has added another twist, as the starting pitcher will miss his start Friday and will likely go back on the 10-day disabled list with recurring left elbow woes, a source told MLB.com. Brian Johnson will start Friday night against the Royals.

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 7-28-2017

Chicago Eagle, July 28, 1917:

Harry Heilman [sic], Tiger outfielder, had an experience recently which…will keep him glued to his seat in the Pullman when traveling about the country.

The Tigers were going from Boston to Baltimore to play a Sunday exhibition game. The train hesitated at New London, Conn., and Heilman got off to get some sandwiches…While he was purchasing the grub the whistle blew and off went the rattler minus Heilman.

Harry had the change from a five-spot and a couple of ...

Athletics Stuck On Frazier Or Torres From The Yankees For Gray

Heyman reports.

The Oakland Athletics and New York Yankees aren’t believed close to any deal yet in talks about Sonny Gray, as Oakland is said to have asked for packages that include either outfielder Clint Frazier or shortstop Gleyber Torres, two young players the Yankees have suggested are off-limits.

The A’s, in a deep sellers’ market, have named the very top prospects in talks to this point. From the Brewers, they are believed to like outfielder Lewis Brinson, and from the Braves ...

Must C: Nats’ five homers in 3rd | MLB.com

Rangers ‘confident’ in trading Yu Darvish | MLB.com

MLB Network insider Ken Rosenthal first reported Thursday night that the Rangers plan to move the right-hander and are “confident” they will get a quality trade for Darvish.
This latest twist thrusts Darvish to the top of the trade market, surpassing Oakland’s Sonny Gray and Detroit’s Justin Verlander despite a brutal outing Wednesday night that saw Darvish allow 10 earned runs in only 3 2/3 innings against the Marlins.
...
The Dodgers were reportedly interested in dealing for Darvish even ...

Trade Deadline Rumors - 2017

Deadline is today at 4 PM EST.

Add rumors as comments. If you have an article that you can reference I invite you to submit it. If you don’t have time, put the url in your comment. I’ll try to monitor the thread and add important rumors to their own thread.

Happy Trade Deadline Rumoring!

MLBTR: Rays To Acquire Lucas Duda

The Duda now abides in St. Pete.

Though the Rays have their own breakout offensive performer at first in Logan Morrison, the team has room for another big left-handed bat. With outfielder Colby Rasmus hanging up his spikes mid-way through the year, the Rays could utilize Corey Dickerson in the outfield to allow Duda to step in at DH.

Smith, 23, was a third-round pick in the 2015 draft. He made his way to the Rays as the player to be named later in the winter deal that sent Mikie Mahtook to the ...

Inside Baseball AL Notes | How Eduardo Nunez Can Help The Red Sox

Heyman’s latest.

NL Notes.

The Adjustments Andrew McCutchen Made | FanGraphs Baseball

Exhibit 3456: Baseball is a game of adjustments.

Mike Timlin responds to criticisms about his broadcasting skills

Dave O’Brien and Mike Timlin seem like nice guys but they are a real snooze fest.

A look into Albert Pujols’ terrible 2017 - Halos Heaven

He only has four years and $114 million to go (18:$27M, 19:$28M, 20:$29M, 21:$30M).

Rosario notches second four-hit game for 51s | MiLB.com News

What Amed Rosario needs to work on.

In the seventh, Rosario lined an 0-1 pitch to center before completing his night with a run-scoring single to center in the ninth.

“Whenever he stays up the middle with his approach, you know he’s on,” Lopez added. “The main thing for him right now is to control the strike zone and have better at-bats, and make sure he’s up the middle with his approach. We want him to get to know the zone a little better and he’s doing well with it.”

...Read More...

Jim Furtado Posted: July 27, 2017 at 01:15 PM | 0 comment(s)
  Beats: amed rosario, mets

For Phillies, emulating Astros’ ascent requires much more than high picks | CSN Philly

Luck has always been part of The Process.

“It’s similar in a lot of ways (to the Sixers’ process) and I know [Sam Hinkie], he used to be in Houston. He and I have talked a lot about what he was doing here and what I was doing there — there are a lot of analogies. You have to be patient to wait for the results to manifest themselves. Sometimes you get a good roll of the dice, sometimes you don’t.”