2017 Midseason Top 100 Prospects | BaseballAmerica.com

Moncada is #1.

What to Make of Mallex Smith | The Process Report

Breaking down Mallex Smith.

Dreaming of A Free Amateur Market – The Hardball Times

Wrong? Doesn’t the writer know about the Luxury Tax system? Also, MLBPA collectively bargains with the owners. They have not demonstrated the desire to increase the size of the pie for minor leaguers.

But as Miller pointed out, that logic was flawed in the first place, and since the institution of free agency, it has been exposed as entirely wrong. That leads me to ask: What if we abolished the draft and instituted true amateur free agency for all prospects? What would the baseball world look ...

Yankees and trade deadline: Don’t mess with team of future | New York Post

By virtue of their strong start and the buzz provided by their youngsters, the Yankees are now ahead in attendance from last year — by 298 per game, as per Baseball-Reference.com. That buzz won’t go away if the Yankees keep fielding exciting young players. And if they don’t rob from that corps to strengthen their starting rotation.

In the wake of their struggles, there has been only a mild “Do something!” clamor out there. Most folks get it. So the Yankees, playing the long game, ...

Mets prospect Amed Rosario on cusp of Majors | MLB.com

Keeping the dream alive.

MLB Statistics on Twitter: “Infield triple!!

Wow!

Infield triple!! pic.twitter.com/h2ykqjUuQq

— MLB Statistics (@MLBRandomStats) July 7, 2017

Inside Baseball NL Notes | Mets Don’t Have Much Value To Sell

AL Notes here.

MLBTR: Bartolo Colon Drawing Interest From Mets, Others

You can never get enough BartoLOLo.

While it’s notable that the Mets moved so quickly on a fan favorite who so recently played such a significant role with the organization, it’s not yet clear that Colon is slated to return to Queens. The club doesn’t expect to hear back from Colon’s camp until tomorrow, says Puma. And other (as yet unnamed) organizations have also logged their interest in the veteran hurler, per James Wagner of the New York Times (via Twitter).

Colon, 44, washed out ...

Angels’ Mike Trout reports no pain after first rehab game with Inland Empire | OC Register

Trout batted third and served as the designated hitter. He grounded out weakly to second in his first at-bat on a 3-and-1 pitch. On the seventh pitch of his second at-bat, he struck out swinging. In his third at-bat, he hit a routine fly ball to center field on a 1-and-1 pitch.

It was Trout’s first game action since tearing a ligament in his left thumb sliding into second base May 28 in Miami.

“I feel great,” he said.

OMNICHATTER had to duck a lot of sticks to get to this point point in life, for July 6, 2017

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 7-6-2017

Philadelphia Public Ledger, July 6, 1917:

Charley “Red” Dooin, catcher for the [Chester, PA] Delaware County League team, has been given his release by Manager Frank Poth. The former manager of the Phillies failed in his comeback and only one hit for an average of .045 in nine games was registered by the “sorrel top.”

I know what Voros’ Law says, but jeez. The guy was in the major leagues in 1916 and he hit .045 in the Delaware County League in 1917.

Levine: Justin Verlander May Be A Key For Cubs’ Future « CBS Chicago

Can he be effective for two more seasons? Will he be worth the money and cost in talent?

Sitting at 41-42 entering play Wednesday and with a desire to acquire more than a rental pitcher, the Cubs could view Verlander as a key piece to help reconnect the dots this season and beyond. The 34-year-old Verlander is under contract through the 2019 season, with a vesting option for 2020 if he finishes in the top five of the Cy Young voting in 2019.
...
Verlander has had an underwhelming season, as ...

Heyman | Marlins Sale Moving Towards Finish Line

Sources say they still hope there’s a deal for at least a negotiating window by next Tuesday’s All-Star Game. The Jorge Mas group has the financing and is a threat to win the team, while the Tagg Romney-Wayne Rothbaum group is at least close and even the Derek Jeter group, which had been well behind, is said to have come up with close to $1 billion in backers and isn’t completely out of the running, according to a source close to the talks.

Mas is the wealthiest of the interested ...

Sprint Speed Helps Tell Us Who’s Good At Baserunning And Who’s Just Fast

As you might suspect, I have been searching for stuff comparing Sprint Spead to Baserunning Runs. Here’s a pretty interesting look from a week ago.

Evaluating the St. Louis Cardinals baserunning with Statcast – THE INTREPID STL

Just stumbled onto this. Here’s an interesting look at the Cardinals baserunning using advanced metrics.

Gene Conley, Dual-Sport Threat With World Series and N.B.A. Titles, Dies at 86

Conley ... pitched for the World Series champion Milwaukee Braves in 1957. At 6 feet 8 inches — he was the tallest pitcher in the major leagues at the time — he also carved out a parallel career in professional basketball, playing during baseball’s off-season and winning three N.B.A. titles with the Boston Celtics

Clemente Collection To Be Auctioned At All-Star Game Fanfest

The 2017 FanFest will take place from Friday to Tuesday at the Miami Beach Convention Center. The auctioning of “The Personal Collection of Roberto Clemente” will take place on Tuesday at noon and is run by Hunt Auctions. And spokesman David Hunt said even if fans don’t want to or can’t buy anything, the Clemente items will be displayed like they’re in a museum for fans to enjoy.

Another headline seen in the sidebar at the Miami Herald: MLB Warns About Counterfeit Merchandise During ...

For Adam Duvall, proving doubters wrong is old hat

Adam Duvall is running out of things to prove. He may not be an All-Star like he was a year ago, but the Cincinnati Reds left fielder is enjoying an even better season statistically.

Through 83 games, he’s hit .279, with a .324 on-base percentage and an .880 OPS. He has 19 home runs, and is on pace to be worth between 3.5 and 3.7 WAR, depending on the version of the stat. There are some questions as to whether his average is inflated by good batted ball luck, but it’s clear that the ...

The Relationship Between Spending Efficiency and Labor Markets | FanGraphs Baseball

I’m really looking forward to Matt Swartz’s updated analysis of his Dollar per WAR estimates. In this article he addresses some criticism from “progressively minded” analysts.

Changing the structure of the institution such that players receive a larger share of revenue is certainly a goal for which labor-minded analysts are right to advocate. But the ability of some club to identify undervalued talent isn’t an impediment to that goal. Smarter front offices will drive the undervalued players’ ...

The Neverending Refrain: Player Salaries and Major League Baseball | The National Pastime Museum

Read the article for the date of this quote.

The salary of the professional base-ball player is something often talked about, and the figures are generally placed too high, but for an actual fact, the professional player of to-day, providing he possesses ability of the right order, fares better than the ordinary member of any other profession. But his prosperity, as a general thing, is not of the lasting order, and the better paid some men are the worse off they are at the end of the season.

Dodgers’ Adrian Gonzalez might not play until September, but whatever happens, he’s at peace with it - LA Times

The 35-year-old conceded what many people already knew: His regular season is lost. Whatever he does between now and Game 162 is to prepare for the playoffs.

“I guess a young guy might be worried about, like, ‘I need to get back to put up numbers,’” Gonzalez said. “I could care less about numbers. At this point in my career, I just want to have fun, I just want to enjoy being around the guys and win games. I don’t think there’s any other reason to play the game other than to ...

Bryce Harper Has a New, Lower Gear

tl;dr Harper is not swinging for the moon and it’s paying off.

What’s interesting, at least to this author, is that Harper is willing to tinker with a gift that allowed him to reach the majors at 19. What’s perhaps troubling for the opposition is that he continues to look for ways to improve despite already possessing an NL MVP on his resume and returning close to that form thus far in 2017. He’s still just 24 — he won’t turn 25 until October — and is four months younger than Aaron ...

OMNICHATTER is disinclined to acquiesce to your demands, for July 5, 2017

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 7-5-2017

New York Sun, July 5, 1917:

Barney Dreyfuss and the Pittsburg Pirates slipped over a long shot on the baseball public when the announcement was made last night that Hugo Bezdek had been selected to succeed Jimmy Callahan as manager of the Pirates.
...
Bezdek is assuming charge of the Pirates with possibly scanter qualifications, judging from his past experiences, than any other pilot has in the big leagues for many a day.

The new Buccaneer boss has never managed a ball club in organized ranks. ...

Joe Ross Now With Extra Pitch And Extra Stamina

I think they finally found Car 54.

Emergence Of Ian Happ Complicates Cubs Search For Pitching

Just so I get this right, having a player perform well in the big leagues makes it harder to make a trade???

OTP 4 July 2017: On July 4, Palm Springs celebrates with family, fireworks, baseball

Thousands gathered in Palm Springs to celebrate the Fourth of July on Tuesday with distinctly all-American traditions: family fun, fireworks and a baseball game.

As temperatures climbed above 110 on Tuesday afternoon, valley residents gathered to await a Palm Springs Power baseball game and fireworks show. They bought water, beer and snow cones as the opening pitch approached.

“It’s very American,” said Rafael Candelario, a Marine stationed at Twentynine Palms who drove to Palm Springs for ...

Benintendi hits two homers as Red Sox sparkle in Texas

Price, it has since been learned, sharply criticized Eckersley for an on-air comment about Eduardo Rodriguez pitching poorly in a minor-league injury rehabilitation game that day.

“Standing up for my teammates,” Price said. “Whatever crap I catch for that, I’m fine with it.”

Oakland Athletics Assistant GM Billy Owens on Nashville Sounds prospects — OaklandClubhouse

Make sure you read part one too.

The Mets just sent a loud statement that this is over | New York Post

People are just getting the message now?