Site Outage Postponed

I have way too many things that still need to be accomplished before migrating the server. I’m going to keep plugging and will update when I’m ready to move the site.

UPDATE: Sorry, I have to push back the update until next Monday. Home was far too busy this past week. Things get back to normal tomorrow. Hopefully the extra time will help shorten the outage.

BBTF.org will be offline starting Tuesday, August 8th at 9 AM EDT for a much-needed server migration and backend updates. The ETA to be back online is TBD. I will provide updates on Twitter. 

Thanks for your patience.

Forbes: For MLB, Las Vegas, And Oakland, The A’s Name And Brand Should Stay Put

To start, Las Vegas would be better served with a new name and brand. While the Raiders kept their name when moving to Sin City, they are part of the NFL which is the most popular sport in the U.S. by a large margin. Not since Walter Haas owned the A’s has there been any lasting legacy around winning and current A’s ownership isn’t exactly providing excitement in the standings ahead of relocation. The market will have no emotional tie to the club, which offers opportunity for the club to be rechristened. This would build market loyalty. “It’s our team” as opposed to “the team formerly from Oakland.” It all gives the club a fresh start in a new market.

Keeping The Name In Oakland Benefits MLB
With the A’s rechristened ...

Sportsnet’s Ben Wagner out as voice of Blue Jays radio broadcasts

Ben Wagner is out as the voice of Toronto Blue Jays radio broadcasts, Sportsnet announced on Wednesday.

The move comes in the wake of Rogers scaling back its radio broadcasts since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sportsnet was one of a select few teams last season to not send radio personnel to road games, while Rogers Communications, which owns Sportsnet and the Blue Jays, opted not to offer radio-specific broadcasts for the bulk of the 2021 season.

“After six seasons as the voice of our baseball radio broadcasts, Sportsnet has decided not to renew Ben Wagner’s contract for next season,” the statement reads. “Thank you, Ben, for sharing your voice and expertise with listeners across Canada. We wish you the very best.”

...Read More...

RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: November 30, 2023 at 03:13 PM | 1 comment(s)
  Beats: blue jays

Jackson Chourio extension: Brewers closing in on historic deal with MLB’s No. 7 prospect, per report

The Milwaukee Brewers are expected to sign top outfield prospect Jackson Chourio to a record-breaking contract extension on Thursday, per the New York Post. Chourio, 19, is set to sign an eight-year deal worth close to $80 million, per the report. Such an extension would shatter the record for the largest contract ever signed by a player before making their MLB debut. That record currently belongs to Chicago White Sox outfielder Luis Robert, who inked a six-year, $50 million pact in 2020.

Chourio reached Triple-A in 2023, but played just six games at the minors’ highest level. This deal will clear the way for him to make the big-league roster as soon as he’s deemed ready—be it Opening Day 2024 or sometime later in the summer.

Breaking: ...

Reds, RHP Nick Martinez agree to $26M deal, sources say

Right-hander Nick Martinez and the Cincinnati Reds agreed on a two-year, $26 million contract that includes an opt-out after the first season, sources told ESPN, capping a busy Wednesday in which the Reds bulked up their pitching staff in hopes of winning the National League Central next season.

Martinez had opted out of the final two years of his contract with San Diego that would have paid him $16 million after the Padres declined their two-year, $32 million club option on the 33-year-old. He comes off a season in which he pitched 54 games out of the bullpen but thrived over nine starts, posting a 2.32 ERA in 42⅔ innings.

Martinez’s deal, which is pending a physical, will pay him $14 million in 2024, sources said, at which point he ...

Mets sign Joey Wendle to one-year deal to bolster infield depth

After coming to an agreement with right-hander Luis Severino on Wednesday night, the Mets added to their lineup depth by landing infielder Joey Wendle on a one-year, $2 million deal plus performance bonuses, The Post’s Joel Sherman reported.

The versatile, left-handed-hitting Wendle was an All-Star with the Rays in 2021 but is coming off a rough season with the Marlins.

The 33-year-old hit .212 with a .554 OPS in 112 games this year.

After the Mets non-tendered Luis Guillorme, who was projected to make $1.7 million in arbitration (per MLB Trade Rumors), Wendle could essentially fill his role on the roster.

Former Yankee Luis Severino agrees to 1-year, $13 million deal with Mets: reports

Luis Severino is moving across town. The former Yankee has agreed to a one-year, $13 million deal with the New York Mets, according to multiple reports.

The right-handed pitcher spent the past eight seasons with the Bombers and now will join new manager Carlos Mendoza in Flushing.

The two-time All-Star has had a roller coaster of a career and last season was certainly a low-point. The 29-year-old posted a 6.65 ERA in 19 games with the Bombers.

Injuries have played a large role in the starter’s career as he hasn’t made more than 19 starts since 2018.

Reds add reliever Pagán on 2-year deal

Right-handed reliever Emilio Pagán and the Reds have agreed on a two-year deal, a source told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand on Wednesday. The team has not confirmed the agreement, which is pending a physical.

Pagán, 32, posted a 2.99 ERA and 0.95 WHIP over 69 1/3 innings with the Twins last season, a return to form after three years with an ERA over 4.40. Since his debut with the Mariners in 2017, he has a 3.71 ERA with 456 strikeouts and a 1.07 WHIP in 400 MLB innings, pitching for Seattle, Oakland, Tampa Bay, San Diego and Minnesota.

Pagán will join a Reds relief corps that ranked 16th in the Majors with a 4.11 ERA in 2023.

Liam Hendriks, Cody Bellinger Comeback Players of the Year

Reliever Liam Hendriks and outfielder Cody Bellinger were selected Major League Baseball’s Comeback Players of the Year on Tuesday.

The pair, both free agents, were chosen in voting by MLB.com beat writers.

Hendriks, a 34-year-old right-hander, made his season debut on May 29 following treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma. He went 2-0 with one save and a 5.40 ERA in five appearances for the Chicago White Sox, the last on June 9. He went on the injured list with right elbow inflammation and on Aug. 2 had Tommy John surgery, which will sideline him until late in the 2024 season or 2025….

Bellinger, 28, hit a career-high .307 with 26 homers and 97 RBIs after signing a $17.5 million, one-year deal with the Chicago Cubs as a free agent. He ...

Update on Yankees’ Juan Soto trade talks: Teams talking players, but not close on agreement

Talks between the Yankees and the San Diego Padres about a Juan Soto trade have progressed to the point of exchanging names on players, league sources say. San Diego’s initial ask was very high—understandably so—and the teams are not close to an agreement.

The Padres, whose beloved owner, Peter Seidler, died on Nov. 14, are said to be early in their process of figuring out what to do with Soto.

As SNY reported, the Yanks and Padres had a preliminary conversation about Soto early in the offseason. Those talks have continued, per sources.

While the exact names are not known, the Padres are said to be looking at top prospects/rookies like Jasson Dominguez and Anthony Volpe, young major league pitchers in the Michael King/Clarke Schmidt ...

Zack Britton details analytics ‘rift’ that’s plaguing Yankees

Britton, who pitched for the Yankees from 2018-22, complimented Cashman and Boone for their baseball acumen — but was critical of the organization’s use of analytics.

Britton said that Cashman communicated “great” with him personally, but described a general organizational “disconnect” in how analytics are implemented with the team.

I think sometimes, and this happened with me personally, when analytics comes into play, we get our iPad,” Britton said. “You can go down the rabbit hole with analytics and you can kind of find anything to justify anything, right? The numbers, you can skew them any way to paint the picture you want to paint.

“I think, with Brian, it might just be needing to blend the two a little more. ...

Andre Dawson Wants His Hall of Fame Cap Changed to the Cubs

As Paul Sullivan reports, Dawson has sent a letter to the chairman of the board of directors for the Hall of Fame, asking for a meeting to discuss changing the cap. Dawson sees it as something of a late-in-life mission to get the cap changed to the Cubs.

The main reason Andre Dawson sees getting this fixed is because of how he felt when he became a Chicago Cub.

“It was an eye-opening experience for me,” Dawson told Sullivan. “The adoration of the fan base, the welcoming from the city itself and the joy of being able to experience that feeling in the second half of my career. … I was one of the more popular players in Montreal, but I wouldn’t consider myself an organizational icon or the most popular.

“That didn’t affect me ...

Bill James Handbook Excerpt: Baserunning In Its Own Self

Conceptual clarity. The point I am trying to make is that there is a big difference between the job of a statistician, which is to count things, and the job of a researcher, which is to figure out what should be studied, what should be counted, and how it should be counted. Conceptual clarity means that you have a clear, clean definition of what you are counting. You should be able to explain it in one simple, easily understood sentence. In studying baserunning, we had to focus on what was most helpful for us to count. Runners going from first to third on a single, but what else? We settled on seven major categories to describe baserunners, granting that those seven categories don’t get everything that makes one baserunner different from ...

Oakland-area fans start Ballers, an independent baseball team

If the Oakland A’s leave for Las Vegas, the East Bay will still have a baseball team to root for.

The Oakland B’s.

A consortium of dozens of Oakland-area fans, led by a pair of high school friends, banded together to start the Oakland Ballers—also known as the B’s—who plan to play in the independent Pioneer League starting this summer wearing the same green and gold as the A’s.

The team’s co-founders, Paul Freedman and Bryan Carmel, told ESPN they’ve hired former Seattle Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu, who went to high school in nearby Hayward, California, as executive vice president of baseball operations. Former St. Louis outfielder Micah Franklin, a San Francisco native who has coached in the minor leagues, will manage the team.

...Read More...

RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: November 28, 2023 at 09:33 AM | 15 comment(s)
  Beats: oakland

Sources: Jason Heyward, Dodgers reach 1-year, $9 million deal

Outfielder Jason Heyward is returning to the Los Angeles Dodgers on a one-year deal for $9 million, sources told ESPN on Monday.

The deal is pending a physical.

Heyward had a bounce-back 2023 season in Los Angeles, hitting .269 with 15 homers and compiling 2.2 wins above replacement, per FanGraphs. The left-handed hitter played all three outfield spots and first base in a platoon role, which he figures to return to in 2024 for the Dodgers.

BA: Young And Relentless: The Face Of MLB Keeps Getting Younger

Share of PAs by players aged 24-28
1998 to 2002: 41.3%
2003 to 2007: 39.1%
2008 to 2012: 44.6%
2013 to 2017: 44.0%
2018 to 2023: 50.1%

Broadly speaking: Players aged 24 to 28 accounted for roughly 40% of all MLB plate appearances for the first 10 seasons of the 30-team era. That figure rose to roughly 45% of PAs in the second 10 seasons.

Now, in the first five seasons of the third decade of the 30-team era, representation by players aged 24 to 28 has risen again, this time to roughly 50% of all PAs.

MLB teams are concentrating more and more playing time on players in their mid to late 20s for myriad reasons.

Source: Cardinals adding Sonny Gray to revamped rotation

The St. Louis Cardinals have agreed to a deal with free agent pitcher Sonny Gray, according to ESPN and multiple reports.

Gray, 34, joins a revamped Cardinals rotation that also includes recent free-agent additions Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson.

Free-agent RHP Sonny Gray finalizing three-year, $75M contract with Cardinals, source tells @TheAthletic. First with expected agreement: @JonHeyman.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 27, 2023

Sources: Free agent Kenta Maeda, Tigers reach 2-year, $24M deal

Right-hander Kenta Maeda and the Tigers agreed Sunday on a two-year, $24 million contract, lengthening Detroit’s rotation as it hopes to improve on a 78-84 finish in the winnable American League Central, sources familiar with the deal told ESPN.

Maeda, who will be 36 two weeks into the season, joins a Tigers team that went 39-34 in the second half and had a positive run differential, matching their win total in 89 first-half games. Detroit had targeted starting depth in the mid-tier pitching market, and Maeda, coming off Tommy John surgery, posted a 4.23 ERA in 104.1 innings with 117 strikeouts and 28 walks for the Minnesota Twins.

Former Mets catcher Ron Hodges dies at 74

Ron Hodges, a catcher who spent his entire 12-season major league career with the Mets, died Friday. He was 74.

Hodges died at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital after a short illness, Mets spokesman Jay Horwitz said.

Selected by the Mets in the second round of the second phase of the January 1972 amateur draft, Hodges finished with a .240 batting average, 19 home runs and 147 RBIs during a big league career that ran from 1973 to 1984. Hodges had a .342 on-base percentage with 224 walks and 217 strikeouts.

He played under seven managers with the Mets: Yogi Berra, Roy McMillan, Joe Torre, George Bamberger, Frank Howard and Davey Johnson.

Hoornstra: What entry-level pro baseball job descriptions can tell us

3. Conduits still matter
The 2019 book “The MVP Machine” accurately portrayed the idea of “conduits” – people with blended backgrounds in baseball and data analytics who can communicate complex quantitative analyses in terms players will understand. Four years later, what exactly do these people do?

The Cleveland Guardians’ job listing for a Baseball Technology Fellow offers some clues. From the description, job candidates “will be expected to manage the collection of multiple data streams and operate as a resource for both coaches and players” for one minor-league affiliate team. Those data streams include bat/ball-tracking technology, pregame, in-game and postgame video, and “other sports science technology.”

From ...

D-backs To Acquire Eugenio Suarez

Zavala and right-hander Carlos Vargas are headed to the Mariners in exchange for third baseman Eugenio Suarez, reports Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times.

The future of live sports TV reaches a tipping point

A similar approach was employed by MLB in 2023. The San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks were forced to find new cable homes in their respective markets in the middle of the season when Diamond relinquished the rights. Their games were also streamed direct-to-consumer. Fans had the option to buy in-market Padres and D-Backs games for $20 a month on MLB.TV.

MLB guaranteed the clubs 80% of revenues they were set to receive via TV in case there was a shortfall, and commissioner Rob Manfred said recently no such financial support was needed.

However, MLB is no longer offering a backstop guarantee of revenues, and Manfred said the league is prepared and able to take over broadcasts of up to 16 clubs in 2024.

A hybrid approach can work ...

What hath the new Pickoff Rules wrought?

Let’s describe all this in terms of run per 1000 opportunities. In the 2010-2022 time period, the baserunner was at almost exactly 0 runs (-0.1 runs), when no prior pickoff was attempted. He was at -0.6 runs with at least one prior pickoff. So, the pickoffs worked for the pitcher. But more importantly, basestealing was a breakeven proposition overall. Whatever gains may have been earned by the Ichiros of the world was undone by the slower baserunners taking too much chances. It was like the sacrifice bunt: yeah it works when it works, but it really hurts when it doesn’t so that, overall, it’s net-neutral. That’s why the sac bunt goes down in frequency. And that’s what’s been happening with basestealing, as only the really good basestealers ...

Paul DeJong In Agreement With White Sox On Major League Deal

DeJong, 30, is a buy-low move for the Sox, as he has struggled badly in recent seasons. He had an incredible debut with the Cardinals in 2017, hitting 25 home runs in his first 108 major league games. His 28% strikeout rate and 4.7% walk rate were not great, but his overall line of .285/.325/.532 translated to a wRC+ of 123. The Cards made a bet that DeJong could be their shortstop for many years to come, signing him to a six-year, $26MM extension prior to 2018. Unfortunately for them, DeJong’s production slid downhill from the moment that deal was signed. His wRC+ dropped to 103 in 2018, then 101, 87, 84 and 54 through 2022.

In 2023, he seemed to get back on track somewhat. Through 81 games for the Cards, he hit 13 home runs and ...

Padres hire Mike Shildt as new manager on 2-year deal

The San Diego Padres have agreed to terms with Mike Shildt on a two-year contract to become their new manager, the team announced Tuesday.

Shildt, former manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, replaces Bob Melvin, who left San Diego for division rival San Francisco.

Shildt, 55, served as senior adviser for the Padres after the Cardinals surprisingly let him go following the 2021 season, and was seen as the favorite to take over after San Diego granted Melvin permission to talk with the Giants about their job despite having one year remaining on his contract.

Cardinals sign P Kyle Gibson to 1-year, $12M deal, sources say

One day after signing pitcher Lance Lynn, the St. Louis Cardinals have added righty Kyle Gibson on a one-year deal with an option for 2025, the team announced on Tuesday.

Gbison’s deal is worth $12 million next season, sources told ESPN.

Gibson, 36, spent last season with the Baltimore Orioles, going 15-9 with a 4.73 ERA in 33 starts. He threw 192 innings while giving up a league high 198 hits. After spending the first seven years of his career with the Minnesota Twins, the veteran is joining his fourth team in four years. Overall, he’s 104-100 with a 4.54 career ERA in 11 seasons.

Willie Hernández, MVP & WS champ in ‘84 with Tigers, passes

Tigers great Guillermo “Willie” Hernández died Monday. He was 69.

One of the many great Puerto Rican players throughout Major League Baseball history, Hernández was a dominant closer in Detroit who won both the American League Most Valuable Player Award and Cy Young Award for the 1984 World Series champion Tigers.

The left-hander had a 13-year MLB career and was a three-time All-Star for the Tigers from 1984-86. He helped lead Detroit to a World Series title—still the franchise’s most recent—in his first season with the team.

Hernández recorded a career-high 32 saves with a 1.92 ERA and 112 strikeouts in that 1984 season. He pitched 140 1/3 innings, all in relief, and led the Majors with 80 appearances and 68 games finished.

In ...

OT - NBA Redux Thread for the End of 2023

I estimate only 10-12 Primates care about the NBA, and Draymond Green will find a way to put you into a choke hold if Steph’s not playing.

Braves’ Reynaldo Lopez: Gets three years, $30M from Atlanta

Lopez signed a three-year, $26 million contract with Atlanta on Monday.

The deal contains an $8 million club option or $4 million buyout for the 2027 season, so Lopez will net $30 million over the life of the deal. Atlanta had already re-signed Pierce Johnson and Joe Jimenez and traded for Aaron Bummer and they’ve now brought in Lopez to reinforce their bullpen. Lopez made a full-time move to relief in 2022 and has produced a 3.02 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 146:45 K:BB over 131.1 innings covering the last two seasons. Justin Toscano of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Lopez will be stretched out during spring training to give Atlanta a rotation option, with the possibility that he could contribute both as a starter and reliever. In ...

Source: Cardinals finalizing deal for starter Lance Lynn’s return to help rotation

The Cardinals’ first move to restock their rotation is a retro one.

Right-hander Lance Lynn, a fixture in the rotation for years, is finalizing a one-year deal to return to the Cardinals, a source described to the Post-Dispatch. The deal is pending a physical to be completed in the near future.

The contract also includes option language for 2025 that gives Lynn the chance to earn more than $20 million over the two seasons, a source described.

Right-hander Lance Lynn and the St. Louis Cardinals are in agreement on a one-year contract with a club option that guarantees around $10 million, sources familiar with the deal tell ESPN. Lynn, 36, was drafted by Cardinals and returns, pending physical, as they rebuild rotation.

— Jeff Passan ...