BBTF 2014 Softball Game

Time again for Softball!

JULY 31 2014 OMNICHATTER/TRADE DEADLINE CHATTER

IT’S THE OMNI-CHATTER!

Eric Chavez Retires

Eric Chavez. Including 123 OPS+ from 2012-2014! (648 PA)

Third baseman Eric Chavez has retired, effective immediately, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (Twitter link)...

He’s battled knee trouble this season and also has a long history of back issues as well.

Cubs Acquire Felix Doubront

The Cubs have acquired Felix Doubront from the Red Sox…

The Red Sox will receive a player to be named later in return for the 26-year-old lefty, Jim Bowden of ESPN.com reports on Twitter.

Vin Scully To Return

The Los Angeles Dodgers are proud to announce that Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully will be returning for his 66th season.

http://m.mlb.com/lad/video/topic/8010468/v34916389/?c_id=la

Why the Mets Are Right to Save the New York State Pavilion

If the Mets are going to save an old relic like Bobby Abreu, they should save an old relic like this.

Buy a ticket to see the Mets take on the Giants on Friday, and you’ll be giving directly to preserve an architectural giant. No, not Citi Field—certainly not Citi Field. That’s the Queens ballpark that, according to The New Yorker, was erected as a temple to the Brooklyn Dodgers. The same ballpark that Deadspin describes as “a monument to the Mets’ modern futility and clumsiness.” ...Read More...

RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: July 30, 2014 at 03:10 PM | 1 comment(s)
  Beats: baseball history, citifield, mets, shea stadium

The Atlantic: How Athletes Ensure Immortality

Quisenberry’s letter to me focused on three questions I asked about how I, too, could become a professional ballplayer. He shared that he used to frequently throw a tennis ball against a wall and practiced his batting swing or pitching delivery in front of a mirror when no one was around to play catch. He wrote that he developed his stamina from throwing alone and not from lifting weights, adding “or else God just made it that way because I don’t think I am strong compared to other ...

Cameron: Why a July 31 trade deadline just doesn’t make sense anymore

Jack Z. needs more time to do something stupid.

The Rays are a perfect example of why the league should consider moving the deadline back a couple of weeks. It’s probably in the long-term best interests of the organization to trade David Price, as they will get a much larger return for him now—when the acquiring team could get two postseason runs with Price as their ace—than they will if they hold him and make a trade this winter.  However, they’ve clawed back into the playoff race, ...

Posnanski: Four theories about Hall of Fame voting changes

Theory 1: Because they don’t want performance enhancing drug users in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

...The Hall leadership may not want [Barry] Bonds or [Roger] Clemens elected, but it never really looked like they would be anyway. And I don’t think the Hall of Fame directors are manipulative in this way. I’m sure they’re not weeping for Bonds or Clemens, but I don’t believe that was the impetus here.

Theory 2: The Baseball Hall of Fame wants to maintain exclusivity.

... My sense in ...

Cardinals To Acquire Justin Masterson

Robbin’ Masters?

The Indians and Cardinals have agreed to a deal that will send Justin Masterson to St. Louis, Peter Gammons reports (on Twitter). Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that top outfield prospect James Ramsey is headed to Cleveland (Twitter link).

Masterson, 29… [has] battled a knee issue for most of this season, which could very likely have contributed to his 5.51 ERA and bloated walk rate (5.1 BB/9).

Masterson’s fastball velocity has declined significantly this season, ...

Red Sox trade rumors: ‘Very good chance’ John Lackey and Jon Lester are traded - Over the Monster

What kind of package could they get if they traded both of them together?

Trading John Lackey doesn’t make sense for the Red Sox unless they are getting a massive return that they can’t turn down. That’s what makes Ken Rosenthal’s latest a little frightening: there’s a “very good chance” the Red Sox actually ship both of Jon Lester and John Lackey out, not as a package deal, but in separate transactions.

Edit: Link fixed. Jim.

Detroit Tigers’ Evan Reed charged with sexual assault

The charges against Reed carry a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison. He’s charged under the theory that he committed sexual penetration through force or coercion, knowing that the woman was unable to consent, according to the news release.

Posnanski: Hey, Rube: Phillies pay dearly for Amaro’s misguided loyalty

Ruben’s Pholly.

The Howard contract was the one that should have snapped Amaro out of whatever loyalty spell he was under. The second he offered that catastrophe of a deal, baseball writers all over the country wrote in all capital letters: “ARE THE PHILLIES OUT OF THEIR MINDS?” There was no other question.

This was way back in 2010, and it was utterly inexplicable — a $125 million deal that would not even begin for two years for a declining slugger? I believe it is the most ...

VICE: Baseball Erotica #1: John Smoltz and Tom Glavine

Um, NSFW.

Smoltz remained silent and tried to to stand up straighter. Even his eyes were correctly positioned, looking dully ahead with the plasticine sheen of bad taxidermy. In front of him sat a cork board lined with weather-wilted photocopies of He Who Should Not Be Named, augmented by sharpie to include fecal beards and Pollockian body fluid-based decorations. ####### Maddux.

Smoltz lost track of how many times they repeated this dance. All he knew was that he had to keep getting up. ...

The Untold and Insanely Weird Story of A-Rod’s Doping Habits (and why MLB quietly banned EPO, cycling’s drug of choice)

Rodriguez told Bosch that he wanted him to speak with Conte on the phone and hear out the rival self-proclaimed sports chemist’s ideas.

It was a meeting of the doping scientists, likely rife with professional jealousy, and an eager patient at the ready. We now know what Bosch says came next: a doping protocol possibly unprecedented in baseball, further lies and, ultimately, another lesson learned by MLB.

...this reads like fan-fic.

Dodgers, Cardinals lead race for top trade deadline pitchers Lester, Price - CBSSports.com

The Dodgers and Cardinals have been talking to the Rays for weeks about Price too. It was reported by USA Today the Cardinals may have offered top hitting prospect Oscar Taveras and young starter Shelby Miller in a package for Price, who’s value is a bit higher than Lester’s because Price can’t become a free agent until the end of next year while Lester becomes a free agent after this season.

The Dodgers also have excellent prospects, led by shortstop Corey Seager, outfielder Joc Pederson and ...

In debate over MASN rights, MLB rules for Washington Nationals, but fight continues

Move the Orioles to Montreal!

Major League Baseball’s arbitration panel ruled in favor of the Washington Nationals in their longstanding, contentious dispute with the Baltimore Orioles over television rights fees from the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, a person familiar with the situation confirmed Tuesday afternoon.

The person would not reveal the terms of the June 30 ruling that might only begin a new, litigious chapter in the acrimonious, years-long squabble over profits from MASN. Last ...

OMNICHATTER 7-30-2014

OMNICHATTER-NADO

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 7-30-2014

Milwaukee Journal, July 30, 1914:

If eight hours is made a legal working day in California, J. Cal Ewing, the boss of the San Francisco Seals, says he is going to get a legal day’s work out of his ball players. The most that any of them work now is five hours. Three hours of this is in the game in the afternoon, a couple in morning practice.

In the rest of the time, Ewing says he can find work for them cutting grass in the park, sweeping the stands, and marking the foul lines. If the law says ...

ESPN: Twins Sign “Out Of Nowhere” Prospect

In one of their craziest scouting experiences, the Minnesota Twins have reached a deal with a 24-year-old pitcher who has thrown 100 mile per hour fastballs in a California summer league but has never been drafted. The Twins plan to send Brandon Poulson to their rookie league club in Elizabethton, Tennessee. He was cleared to play Tuesday.

Poulson pitched this summer for the Healdsburg Prune Packers in the collegiate Sacramento Rural League. He played last season for the Academy of Art ...

Howard: David Ortiz shaping up to become first steroid era Teflon slugger

Ortiz is shaping up to be the first slugger from his era to make the Hall of Fame.

You realize that, right?

Ortiz seems on an inexorable path to becoming something none of his contemporaries has so far: the steroid era’s first Teflon slugger.

“He’s a Hall of Famer in my eyes,” Red Sox teammate Mike Napoli said Monday.

But how is it that Ortiz seems poised to pull off what McGwire (11 percent of this year’s vote), Barry Bonds (34.7), Roger Clemens (35.4) and Canseco (off the ballot after ...

MASN TV Contract Pits Selig vs Nationals vs Orioles

IT IS ON!

I want there to be no doubt that, if any party initiates any lawsuit, or fails to act in strict compliance with the procedures set forth in the Agreement concerning the [Revenue Sharing Definitions Committee of Major League Baseball]‘s decision, I will not hesitate to impose the strongest sanctions available to me under the Major League Constitution.

‘Caucasians’ T-shirt mocking Cleveland Indians becomes hot seller on reserves

A First Nations band that wore the shirt was accused of racism.  Honest.

Which Players Will Be Most Affected by the Hall of Fame’s New Rules?

To read the chart, scan across until you find a player’s vote share in his first year of eligibility — then scan up to see where the various curves intersect it. For instance, for a player like Mussina who got 20 percent of the vote in his first year:

There is a 10 percent chance he gets elected within his first 10 years of BBWAA eligibility, according to the regression analysis. (This is the yellow curve.)
There is a 23 percent chance he gets elected within the 15-year eligibility window. ...

Valencia traded to Toronto

The Blue Jays provided some much-needed balance to their lineup Monday afternoon by acquiring infielder Danny Valencia from the Royals in a deal for catcher Erik Kratz and right-hander Liam Hendriks.

Toronto’s batting order is predominantly left-handed and there’s a void on the right side, especially while Edwin Encarnacion and Brett Lawrie are on the disabled list.

General manager Alex Anthopoulos attempted to help fix that, and while the trade is relatively minor in the grand scheme of ...

SOE: Minor League Manhood - A first-hand account of masculine sports culture run amok.

Manhood. It’s a competition. Has been since the first grunting, snorting, finger-sniffing Neanderthal scratched out whatever he felt defined it on the wall of his cave. Battle, power, money, looks—they all have their place in the contest, but the one thing that’s been a true indicator of Manhood, since the days when men huddled around flame adorned in animals pelts, is Woman.

An Idiot in Exile

An 83 OPS+ in that critical, oh-so-formative year in Oakland.

Trader Jack? As Seattle’s GM struggles to complete deals, some rival executives wonder | FOX Sports

Zduriencik sounds like a bad fantasy baseball trading partner. If you’ve ever played in a league, you know just the kind of guy I’m talking about. If you don’t, you are probably that guy.

Full Count » Tim Kurkjian on MFB: ‘I’m going to say that Jon Lester is not going to be traded’

I don’t agree with Kurkjian. As long as the Red Sox continue to sell their moves as an attempt to get a lot better next year and in the future, they will be fine with most of their paying customers. This is especially true with Lester, who could very well be traded away for two months and end up back here in next season. Winning three World Series, with one coming just last year, buys you more latitude not less.

Kurkjian continued: “This is a different situation here in Boston. These are not ...

The 30: Center of Attention

A lot of good stuff in Jonah Keri’s latest.