Braves extend manager Brian Snitker

The Atlanta Braves today signed manager Brian Snitker to a contract extension through the 2025 season.

Snitker, 67, guided the Braves to 101 wins and the club’s fifth consecutive NL East division crown last season, one year after helping the organization win the fourth World Series title in franchise history. He finished third in the Manager of the Year voting in 2022, after winning the award in 2018. He also was a finalist for the honor in 2019, and finished fourth in 2020 and 2021. 

Snitker completed his 46th season in the Braves organization in 2022, and his sixth full campaign as the Braves manager. He took over on an interim basis on May 17, 2016, before being named Atlanta’s manager on October 11, 2016. The native of Decatur, ...

Sources: Rays, Pete Fairbanks agree to 3-year, $12M extension

Reliever Pete Fairbanks and the Tampa Bay Rays agreed Friday on a three-year, $12 million contract extension with a club option for a fourth season, sources familiar with the deal told ESPN on Friday.

Fairbanks, 29, was dominant over the final 2½ months of the 2022 season, ending the year with 22 scoreless innings in which he struck out 36, allowed 9 hits and walked 3 batters. Fairbanks missed the first 3½ months of the season with a torn lat muscle, but his return resembled the previous two years, in which he’d developed into a strikeout machine.

Sources: Mets, batting champ Jeff McNeil reach $50M extension

National League batting champion Jeff McNeil and the New York Mets agreed Friday to a four-year, $50 million contract extension, sources familiar with the deal told ESPN, ensuring one of the team’s core players will remain in Queens as it looks to win its first World Series since 1986.

The deal, which is pending a physical, includes a fifth-year club option that could take the overall value to $63.75 million, sources told ESPN.

McNeil, who turns 31 a week after Opening Day, was scheduled to go to an arbitration trial with the Mets, where he was requesting $7.75 million and they offered $6.25 million. Instead, the gap spurred conversations about keeping McNeil past his remaining two years of arbitration and landed on buying out two free ...

A radical remodel of local sports TV may come sooner than expected | theScore.com

Travis Sawchik with some more info on the broadcasting situation.

CF Defense In The News: The Current King

Read more at the link.

Elite center field defense was in the news this week. One player who plays it is moving on to another team. Another player expressed his desire to be an elite defender despite never having played the position before as a pro.

Michael A. Taylor is the elite center fielder. Taylor was just traded by the Royals to the Twins for two minor leaguers.

Taylor has led center fielders in Defensive Runs Saved in each of the last two seasons. His 38 Runs Saved since 2021 lead the position and there’s a huge gap between him and No. 2 Myles Straw. Taylor won both a Fielding Bible Award and a Gold Glove in 2021 and narrowly missed winning the former again last season.

Taylor rates particularly well at chasing down fly balls hit ...

Blue Jays to move fences in at Rogers Centre, but raise walls

As part of ongoing renovations to their home ballpark, the Toronto Blue Jays are moving in the outfield fences at the Rogers Centre, which figures to make the venue even more accommodating for power hitters.

On Friday, the Blue Jays officially announced the new outfield dimensions along with the wall heights around the ballpark. They look to be the following:

Left field line: 328 feet with a 14-foot, four-inch wall
Left center: 368 feet with an 11-foot, two-inch wall
Left center power alley: 381 feet with a 12-foot, nine-inch wall
Center field: 400 feet with an eight-foot wall
Right center power alley: 372 feet with a 10-foot, nine-inch wall
Right center: 359 feet with a 14-foot, four-inch wall
Right field line: 328 feet with a ...

MLB Pipeline Top 100 Prospects

How often have any of us in the last 20 years been jealous of the Orioles?

The Top 10
1. Gunnar Henderson, 3B/SS, Orioles
2. Corbin Carroll, OF, D-backs
3. Francisco Álvarez, C, Mets
4. Jordan Walker, OF, Cardinals
5. Anthony Volpe, SS, Yankees
6. Andrew Painter, RHP, Phillies
7. Grayson Rodriguez, RHP, Orioles
8. Jackson Chourio, OF, Brewers
9. Marcelo Mayer, SS, Red Sox
10. Elly De La Cruz, SS/3B, Reds

Ray Herbert, Detroit sandlot ace and 1962 AL All-Star, dies

Ray Herbert, a 1962 All-Star Game winning pitcher who threw batting practice for his hometown Detroit Tigers for decades after retiring, died peacefully in Plymouth, Michigan, five days after his 93rd birthday.

Herbert started his big league career with Detroit in 1950 and pitched for four teams over 14 seasons. He was a 20-game winner for the White Sox in 1962, then led the American League with seven shutouts in 1963 with Chicago.

Herbert was a part of a generation of Detroiters who flocked to the diamonds of the city’s historic Northwestern Field, a sandlot that turned out players such as Willie Horton, Bill Freehan and Frank Tanana. It was famed Tigers scout “Wish” Egan who spotted Herbert and his older brother, Donald, on the ...

Dana Brown named new Astros general manager

Dana Brown, a longtime baseball executive who helped the Braves acquire their stable of young talent, was named the Astros’ new general manager on Thursday.

Brown joins the Astros after spending the last four seasons (2019-22) as the vice president of scouting in Atlanta, where he oversaw the drafting of 2022 National League Rookie of the Year Michael Harris II and Harris’ runner-up, pitcher Spencer Strider, along with infielder Vaughn Grissom.

Brown and manager Dusty Baker are the second pairing of a Black general manager and manager, the first being Ken Williams and Jerry Manuel with the White Sox from 2001-03.

Orioles acquire Cole Irvin in trade with Athletics

The Baltimore Orioles acquired left-hander Cole Irvin from the Oakland Athletics on Thursday, bolstering their rotation as they look to take a step forward in the ultracompetitive American League East.

Irvin, who turns 29 this week, emerged as a reliable innings-eater over the last two seasons, throwing 359.1 innings at a 4.11 ERA after the A’s acquired him from Philadelphia for $100,000.

Baltimore used its significant middle-infield depth in the deal, sending 21-year-old Darell Hernaiz to Oakland. The Orioles also received 24-year-old minor league right-hander Kyle Virbitsky as part of the trade.

Gary Peters, two-time White Sox All-Star, dies at 85

Gary Peters, the American League Rookie of the Year in 1963 and an All-Star pitcher for the White Sox in 1964 and ‘67, has died at 85.

Peters led the AL with a 2.63 ERA while winning 19 games as a rookie and was a 20-game winner with a 2.50 ERA for the Sox in 1964. In 1968, the left-hander posted a league-best 1.98 ERA. He pitched for the Sox from 1959-69 before finishing his career with three seasons for the Red Sox.

Peters ranks eighth among White Sox pitchers with 1,098 strikeouts and owned a 3.25 career ERA and 123-105 won-lost record.

In the 1967 All-Star Game at Anaheim Stadium, Peters pitched three perfect innings, strikeouts Willie Mays, Roberto Clemente, Orlando Cepeda and Dick Allen. He also retired Hank Aaron on a ...

After winter revamp of swing in ‘the lab,’ Paul DeJong eyes decisive spring with Cardinals

“This is the first offseason where I’m truly optimistic about the changes.”

Asked how best to illustrate those changes, DeJong shared a split-screen video Wednesday that had synced his new swing on the left to his abandoned swing on the right. The three-second clip showed the hours of work he’s put in over these winter months. Gone is the lift of his left foot, replaced instead with a twist for timing. From that moment it’s clear in the new swing how his head remains still, his sight-line level. What follows is a swing that keeps his torso upright, less lunging for balance, and then doesn’t snap forward until contact. His previous swing came down on the ball with a negative attack angle, as if chopping wood, instead of using ...

Sinclair’s Sports Channels Prepare Bankruptcy, Putting Team Payments at Risk

America’s largest owner of local sports channels is heading toward a complex $8.6 billion debt restructuring in bankruptcy court as it stakes its future on a new direct-to-consumer streaming service.

After leveraging up to buy regional sports networks from Walt Disney Co. in 2019, Diamond Sports Group LLC is suffering from a decline in cable-TV subscribers, spurring negotiations with creditors and major sports leagues about its viability as a going concern. The outcome will have serious implications for the $55 billion world of sports-media rights: the company’s channels showcase Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association and National Hockey League games to fans from Detroit and Phoenix to San Diego.

With financial ...

Rays Extend Jeffrey Springs

The Rays and left-hander Jeffrey Springs have signed a contract extension, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter links). Springs will get $31MM over four years but there’s a club option for 2027 and incentives that could lead to Springs earning $65.75MM.

Brad Ausmus Reportedly Among Astros’ GM Finalists

Earlier today, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported that the Astros have at least three finalists for their GM vacancy: Braves vice president of scouting Dana Brown, Guardians assistant GM James Harris and former Giants GM Bobby Evans. That’s not an exhaustive list, however, and Jose de Jesus Ortiz of Our Esquina tweets that former Astros catcher, Tigers/Angels manager and (most recently) A’s bench Brad Ausmus is also among the finalists. Per Ortiz, Brown and Ausmus are the two favorites for the job.

Jumping straight into the GM’s chair would be a first for Ausmus, though it wouldn’t be his first stint in a big league front office. Ausmus was a special assistant in the Padres’ front office shortly after retiring as a player, ...

A’s reportedly reach one-year deal with Jesus Aguilar

The Oakland Athletics and first baseman Jesus Aguilar agreed to a one-year, $3 million contract Tuesday, according to multiple reports.

The deal is pending a physical.

Aguilar, 32, will join his sixth MLB team if the deal is finalized. The one-time All-Star spent most of last season with the Miami Marlins.

Eight-time Gold Glove 3B Scott Rolen makes Baseball Hall of Fame

Scott Rolen has been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, sneaking over the threshold by the narrowest of margins.

Rolen, one of the game’s great third basemen, was named on 76.3% of ballots cast in his sixth year of eligibility to earn enshrinement. Just missing was former Rockies first baseman Todd Helton, who received support on 72.2% of ballots in his fifth try at election.

None of the other 27 players listed on the 2023 Hall ballot cleared the 75 percent minimum for election, though there were a couple of near-misses. The results of the balloting were revealed Tuesday during a broadcast on MLB.com.

Final BBWAA Hall of Fame vote: pic.twitter.com/UNNZ0ovM8i

— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) January 24, 2023

White Sox pitcher Mike Clevinger under investigation for alleged domestic violence, child abuse, per report

Major League Baseball is investigating Chicago White Sox pitcher Mike Clevinger following allegations of domestic violence and child abuse from the mother of his 10-month-old daughter, reports The Athletic. The woman, 24-year-old Olivia Finestead, publicly disclosed the allegations on Instagram on Tuesday.

Here are more details, via The Athletic:

According to Finestead, she has detailed to those investigators incidents of physical, verbal and emotional abuse, including an incident from last June in which Finestead said Clevinger choked her, and another about two weeks later when she said Clevinger slapped her in a hotel room when the team was playing the Dodgers and threw used chewing tobacco on their child. 

A source familiar with ...

Red Sox acquire Adalberto Mondesi in trade with Royals

The Boston Red Sox have acquired shortstop Adalberto Mondesi in a trade with the Kansas City Royals, it was announced Tuesday.

The Royals will get left-handed reliever Josh Taylor in exchange for Mondesi and a player to be named later or cash considerations.

Mondesi, 27, has played in only 50 games over the past two seasons because of injuries.

He was limited to 15 games during the 2022 season after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee on an attempted pickoff play in April. He played in only 35 games in 2021 because of left hamstring and left oblique injuries.

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Is All Fair in Love and WAR?: The Importance of Hard-Hit Foul Balls

Even in this case, strikeouts occurred less often after barreled fouls, as 29.0% of at-bats with a singular, barreled foul (there were 607) ended with the batter taking the long walk back to the dugout, while 32.3% of at-bats with a sole, non-barreled foul (there were 47,987) did.

Why might strikeouts follow barreled fouls less often? Well for one, as the first scatterplot above demonstrates, hitters who barrel fouls at high rates also typically barrel their balls in play at high rates; in other words, they’re usually more fearsome hitters, and they are more likely to be pitched around. But it’s possible they are also being pitched around because they just hit the snot out of a pitch, even if the batted ball in question landed out of ...

Mastrodonato: Red Sox fans have every right to be angry at John Henry, Chaim Bloom and Co.

The bold-faced lying to fans, as if we are all too stupid to know they are lying, is absolutely galling. It’s hubris. This ownership group has lost me.

Moreno family announces it will retain Angels ownership

After months of exploring a possible sale, the Angels announced on Monday that the exploratory process to sell the team has ended, with the Moreno family maintaining ownership of the club.

“During this process, it became clear that we have unfinished business and feel we can make a positive impact on the future of the team and the fan experience,” Moreno said in a statement. “This offseason, we committed to a franchise-record player payroll and still want to accomplish our goal of bringing a World Series championship back to our fans. We are excited about this next chapter of Angels baseball.”

Owner Arte Moreno, 76, initially began a formal search to explore alternatives that included the potential sale of the team, in August. ...

Sources: Twins acquiring Michael A. Taylor in trade with Royals

The Minnesota Twins are acquiring outfielder Michael A. Taylor in a trade with the Kansas City Royals, sources told ESPN’s Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel on Monday.

An elite defensive center fielder and former Gold Glove Award winner, Taylor batted .254 with nine home runs and 43 RBIs with a .670 OPS in 2022.

Taylor, who turns 32 in March, is entering his 10th major league season. He played the first seven years of his career in Washington, where he won a World Series with the Nationals in 2019, before signing with Kansas City during the 2020 offseason.

The Twins are acquiring OF Michael A. Taylor from the Royals for LHP Evan Sisk and RHP Steven Cruz, per source.

— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) January 23, 2023

Report: Chip Caray the new voice of the St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals have found their new play-by-play announcer for the upcoming season.

First reported by Davis O’Brien with The Athletic, Chip Caray will join the St. Louis Cardinals as their new play-by-play announcer.

Chip Caray is the son of Skip Caray and grandson of former Cardinals announcer Harry Caray.

Second basemen have been the face of an evolving game. Will MLB’s infield shift limits transform the position again?

In the meantime, younger players with stellar bats and questionable fielding range emerged into full-time roles either as starting second basemen or utility types with frequent stops there, Brandon Lowe and Luis Arraez among them. Arraez, whom the Minnesota Twins traded to the Miami Marlins on Friday, could well be changing teams because his limited fielding abilities no longer fit as well on the Twins with Carlos Correa, Jorge Polanco and prospect Royce Lewis all locked into or jockeying for playing time.

The result, combined with MLB’s growing preference for defensive flexibility, is an upward trend of better-than-average hitters who play at least some second base.

Recently, though, the gap between second basemen and the average MLB ...

Former Athletics captain, Brewers GM Sal Bando dies at 78

Sal Bando, a four-time All-Star third baseman for the Oakland Athletics who later played for and became general manager of the Milwaukee Brewers, died of cancer Friday at the age of 78, the teams announced Saturday.

Bando won three consecutive world championships as captain of the A’s from 1972 to 1974, leading the American League in extra-base hits (64), doubles (32) and total bases (295) during the 1973 season, when he hit .287 while playing in all 162 games.

The Athletics said in a statement that Bando had had cancer for more than five years.

Starter’s Workload: Stop Blaming Analytics for 122 Year Trend - Sports Illustrated Arizona Diamondbacks News, Analysis and More

Link fixed. Jim

One idea that might help reverse this trend a little is to further limit the number of pitchers allowed on staffs. If teams were forced to carry fewer pitchers, they’d also be forced into training their starters to pace themselves rather than throwing max effort all the time. It would have to be transitioned over time but it is doable.

One often hears baseball fans and pundits alike lament the shortened workload that MLB starting pitchers are asked to bear in the modern game. Often in the course of such discussion the argument that “analytics are ruining the game”  is trotted out and held aloft as some great insight.

The next time you hear that, please note: That’s complete and utter nonsense. In fact ever since 1901 ...

Batting champ Arraez headed to Marlins for López, more

The Marlins are set to acquire reigning AL batting champ and All-Star infielder Luis Arraez from the Twins for right-hander Pablo López and two other players, a source told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand on Friday. Neither club has confirmed the deal, which is expected to send infield prospect Jose Salas and outfield prospect Byron Chourio to Minnesota, according to Feinsand.

Salas, 19, is ranked by MLB Pipeline as the No. 5 prospect in Miami’s system.

Seattle Mariners sign infielder Tommy La Stella to 1-year deal

The Seattle Mariners signed infielder Tommy La Stella to a one-year contract on Thursday, adding another versatile veteran to their roster.

La Stella spent the past two seasons with San Francisco, but was designated for assignment by the Giants in late December. La Stella signed a three-year, $18.75 million deal before the 2021 season, but played in just 136 games and hit .245 over his two seasons with the Giants.

Royals agree to deal with closer Aroldis Chapman

The Royals have agreed to a one-year deal with hard-throwing reliever Aroldis Chapman, a source told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand on Thursday. The club has not confirmed the deal, which is expected to be worth $3.75 million plus performance bonuses. Kansas City will be banking on a turnaround from Chapman, who was known for his consistent triple-digit velocity earlier in his career.

The 2022 season was a miserable one for the seven-time All-Star. It saw Chapman record some of the worst stats of his 13-year career and was blemished by multiple injured-list stints as well as questions regarding his willingness to be a team player.