Josh Bell, Cody Belliger and other Cubs buzz from GM Meetings - NBC Sports Chicago

Centerfield
Hoyer said this week he expects most of next year’s center field innings to be handled by somebody he’ll add to the roster this winter.

“Certainly with [Alexander] Canario’s injury and Brennen [Davis’] setback, it made that just that much more obvious,” Hoyer said of Canario’s long-term ankle and shoulder injuries suffered two weeks ago in winter ball and Davis’ stress reaction in his surgically repaired back experienced during Arizona Fall League. They are the Cubs’ top two Triple-A outfield prospects.

Problem with the external solution: There aren’t many available outfielders who fit the bill. And when it comes to bills, you can forget the top two guys out there: megastar, soon-to-be-megabucks recipient ...

World Series recap: What MLB teams can learn from Phillies-Astros - Sports Illustrated

Defense matters
Velocity keeps rising, but there is less of it
Spin is in
Contact matters
The Astros are a better postseason team than the Dodgers
  They strike out less. Their offenses are similar, but Houston puts more balls in play.
  The Astros’ pitchers go deeper into games more often.

A Guide To Winter League Baseball, Including How To Watch - Over the Monster

Professional baseball in North America is over for the time being. You may not miss it yet (there were 2,430 regular season Major League games this year, plus the postseason, the minors, and college baseball — it’s okay if you need a little break), but there will be a point in the coming months when you really, really do. It’ll be cold outside; it’ll be dark; all your shoes will be covered in salt stains; and walking down the street to get a sandwich will make you feel like Ernest ####### Shackleton. At that point, almost nothing will make you feel better than firing up some joyous, steamy, high-quality winter league baseball.

Most US baseball fans know almost nothing about these leagues. That’s a real shame because, not only is ...

Astros and general manager James Click are going their separate ways after winning World Series - CBSSports.com

“Success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan”

Jim Crane thinks he’s a single parent.

2022-23 qualifying offer candidates and decisions

Tyler Anderson
Chris Bassitt
Xander Bogaerts
Willson Contreras
Jacob deGrom
Nate Eovaldi
Aaron Judge
Brandon Nimmo
Joc Pederson
Martin Perez
Anthony Rizzo
Carlos Rodon
Dansby Swanson
Trea Turner

Toughest Rule 5 Draft decisions for each team

Probably the biggest name in the article. If Indigo Diaz isn’t protected I’m sure he’d be the most likely to get drafted.

Giants: Hunter Bishop, OF (No. 23)
The best college athlete in the 2019 Draft, in which he went 10th overall out of Arizona State, Bishop has been plagued by injuries and missed time again this year with a strained oblique. He managed to play in a career-high 86 games but hit just .235/.320/.406 with 13 homers and 20 steals in High-A at age 24 while striking out at a 33 percent clip.

Clayton Kershaw and Dodgers close in on one-year deal, another chance for second title - The Athletic

In a quiet moment, as his teammates showered, dressed and quietly left the visitors clubhouse at Petco Park in October, Clayton Kershaw sat.

The Dodgers’ 111-win season had been reduced to a first-round exit. The postseason run Kershaw came back for ended far sooner than anticipated. So the franchise’s most iconic face sat in his blue hoodie. He sipped on a beer.

While he offered encouraging words about coming back for 2023, he was hardly absolute. After all, he said, who’s to say what a winter with his thoughts would do to change what is now a year-to-year decision about whether to keep going?

“We’ll see what happens,” Kershaw said before sitting back at his locker with his beer. “Going home and being around and being a ...

Braves’ Mike Soroka had tightness near twice-torn Achilles, so he got high-tech help - The Athletic

Soroka had heard countless times since the initial injury that it was something that just happened, no explanation, that it could’ve happened to anyone. Others have speculated that there was something structural wrong with his body that couldn’t withstand the torque of high-level pitching.

The analysis of his delivery told him otherwise.

“Not only was I putting too much stress on it, but I was basically taking out lower-half involvement from anything in getting a kinetic chain to the baseball.

“That was kind of the crazy part for me, learning that I cornered myself into throwing at a disadvantage for years, most likely to be able to manipulate the ball and see the ball move. That was tough to grasp.”

Rosenthal: Uncertainty surrounding Astros GM James Click marring World Series shine - The Athletic

Crane evidently doesn’t care. Maybe he shouldn’t care. But his handling of Click is another unfortunate episode for a franchise that has had too many under his ownership, a franchise that should be basking in the glow of its untainted World Series title. It would be difficult to blame Click if he told Crane to stick his offer you-know-where.

MLB Officially Starts a War on WAR

In The Athletic’s report it said, “Agreeing to a system that keeps the best players under team control, and at a set scale of pay, for potentially a longer period of time than six years — the current time it takes to get free agency — could lessen those players’ earnings in the long run. And, if the top-earning players in the sport don’t have a way to grow their salaries, then other players’ salaries also might not grow over time.”

While that didn’t ultimately come to pass in the newly agreed to CBA, Major League Baseball has now introduced a new statistic.

Enter aWAR.

Currently there is bWAR, which alludes to Baseball Reference’s calculation, and fWAR, which alludes to Fangraphs. aWAR, as described by MLB, is a ...

Pirates pick up first baseman Ji-Man Choi in trade with Rays

The Pittsburgh Pirates addressed one of their glaring weaknesses Thursday, acquiring first baseman Ji-Man Choi from the Tampa Bay Rays for a minor league pitcher.

Choi, 31, slashed .233/.341/.388 with 22 doubles, 11 home runs and 52 RBIs in 113 games with the Rays last season and ranked seventh among first baseman with plus-2 Outs Above Average.

The 6-foot-1, 260-pound native of South Korea has a career .239 batting average with 61 home runs and 225 RBIs in six major league seasons with the Los Angeles Angels (2016), New York Yankees (2017), Milwaukee Brewers (2018) and the Rays (2019-22).

Padres reliever Robert Suárez goes from half-decade in Japan to $46 million contract extension

Here are the 2022 Silver Slugger winners | MLB.com

This year’s group of recipients included 10 first-time winners. The Padres led all clubs with three winners – all three of whom came over to San Diego at the Trade Deadline – while the Cardinals, Dodgers and Phillies each had two on the National League side. As for the American League, nine teams were represented among the 10 recipients, with the Astros being the only AL team with multiple winners.

Yankees interested in Japan’s Masataka Yoshida as Aaron Judge complement

The Yankees are showing interest in outfielder Masataka Yoshida, an outstanding hitter with a career slash line of .326/.419/.538.

Yoshida would fit the Yankees as he is a left-handed hitter and the type of contact hitter they prefer. Think Andrew Benintendi with much more power.

“I’m aware of him,” was all GM Brian Cashman would say about Yoshida. But another Yankees person said they are indeed interested.

The Yankees’ top outfield target is obviously Aaron Judge, but they’d like two outfielders, with the second one (assuming they can re-sign Judge) preferably left-handed. Yoshida, 29, drew attention with a .447 on-base percentage this past season.

“He’s as legit as they come,” former MLB outfielder Joe McCarthy, who ...

Dershowitz: No, baseball doesn’t have a diversity problem

These complaints demonstrate that in many contexts, “diversity” has become a euphemism for “we want more like us,” regardless of whether the “we” are underrepresented or overrepresented in a given sport or another area of life. In sports — as distinguished from other enterprises — diversity is not the primary goal. Winning is. No one expects a basketball or football team to cut a superior Black player in favor of a less accomplished non-Black player in order to achieve some sort of racial balance. Nor should they expect a baseball team to compromise its ability to win in order to achieve representative racial balance. Of course, all sports should encourage young people of all backgrounds to aspire to greatness and create a ...

Biggest Cy Young Snubs of All Time - Pitcher List

In 2005, the National League award went to Chris Carpenter by 20 vote points over Dontrelle Willis. Dontrelle won more games, had a lower ERA, and a higher WAR. Carpenter did strike out 43 more batters, which must have earned him the 19 first-place votes to Willis’ 11 to push him over the finish line.

Continuing the 2005 trend, the AL had its own snubbery as the winner was Bartolo Colón who won 21 games that year but was second-to-last among vote-getters in ERA and likely wasn’t even the most deserving starter as Johan Santana nearly doubled his WAR with a lower ERA and WHIP with 238 strikeouts to Bartolo’s 157. Mariano Rivera probably had a better case than Colón, too, but Santana should’ve walked away with the hardware.

Jim Callis: “I will be absolutely surprised if Jackson Holliday is not a superstar” - Blog

“I have always liked Gunnar Henderson,” said Callis of the player currently ranked No. 1 by Baseball America and No. 2 by MLBPipeline.com. “I mean, I didn’t think he would arguably rank as the best player in the minors. But he has become a great, great prospect and got to the big leagues and played well. But at the same stage of their careers, Jackson Holliday is better than Gunnar Henderson. So, if that continues, think how exciting that would be. Gunnar didn’t really manage the strike zone like that until this year.

“I will be absolutely surprised if Jackson Holliday is not a superstar. Much like we said about Adley Rutschman. Apples and oranges, college and high school. But his tools, his skills, his instincts growing up ...

Asking Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos about Jacob deGrom, without saying ‘Jacob deGrom’

“We’ve got four guys who basically have jobs in that rotation,” he said. “The fifth spot is open. Whether that’s [Mike] Soroka, Ian Anderson, Kyle Muller, Bryce Elder, Kolby Allard and so on. As we sit here today, unless we acquire somebody else, those guys will all be competing for the five spot.”
...
“From an outside perspective, there’s [a perception of], the Braves are great at doing extensions with their own guys and wouldn’t necessarily be a franchise that will go big on starting pitching free agent. Is that a fair characterization generally?”

“No,” Anthopoulos said.

“Do you think that’s too general?”

“I think that’s too general. I’ve been here the last five years, going into year six. If we think ...

Takeaways from Jerry Dipoto at GM Meetings

It’s probably getting too far ahead of things to consider that Seattle would extend a contract offer approaching $200 million (or more) for a single player, which is what Carlos Correa, Trea Turner and others will likely net.

“We’re not going to sign all of them, that’s just not how we operate,” Dipoto said. “We will wind up doing some type of trade, and it’ll be a combination of trade and free agency—and we’ve already started to initiate the discussions with teams. My sense is that the middle-infield free-agency market is unlikely to move quickly. But there are a number of players in the corner outfield who fit as well. And there are also a number of guys that might be available in trade that we’re interested in. So, we’re not ...

Kodai Senga, Masataka Yoshida will draw plenty of MLB interest

He will turn 30 in January, is a three-time All-Star and went 11-6 with a 1.94 ERA this year with 156 strikeouts in 144 innings. He is a Yu Darvish disciple, often training with him in the offseason in the U.S. To better prep for MLB, Senga began working with a Driveline Baseball (think pitch maximization and design) representative in Japan.

Multiple MLB officials painted the upside of a high-octane fastball that can reach triple digits and which Senga can maintain efficiently in the mid-90s for an entire start with one of the world’s best forkball/splits.

On the downside, Senga will have to improve his breaking ball in MLB, which has become slider crazy. There is worry about a few nagging elbow injuries. And there are enough fastball ...

The Urban Legend of Wade Boggs’ 107-Beer Flight | VinePair

Whether or not Wade Boggs actually downed a whopping 107 beers that day is still up for debate, but many — including Frank from the “Always Sunny” gang — see it as completely plausible. “Nobody can drink that much,” Dennis comments. Frank’s response? “Not with an attitude like that.”

Scott Boras holds court at MLB GM Meetings, says 2022 free agency is ‘carnivore’s market’

What is the value of free agent shortstop Carlos Correa? “He’s the Dior of defense, the Hermes of hitting, the Louis V of leadership, and Prada of the season. It’s a one-stop shop for a championship designer.’’

Boras was just getting started, with plenty of punchlines for his free agent clients:

– On starter Taijuan Walker: “Taijuan is one of the few players under 30 and he’s had multiple 150 inning pitched seasons, so essentially Taijuan is on an island. The only question is who is willing to Tai-pei.’’

– On center fielder Brandon Nimmo: “There are a lot of teams in the waters of free agency. Whoever Pixar guy will be the lucky one in Finding Nimmo.’’

– On shortstop Xander Bogaerts: “His uncle Humphrey ...

Braves trade Jake Odorizzi to Rangers for Kolby Allard

The Atlanta Braves re-acquired left-hander Kolby Allard, their former first-round draft pick, from the Texas Rangers on Wednesday for right-hander Jake Odorizzi and cash.

Allard, 25, was Atlanta’s top choice, No. 14 overall, in the 2015 draft. He was 1-2 with a 7.29 ERA in 10 relief appearances last season while also spending time at Triple-A Round Rock.

Odorizzi, 32, was an All-Star with Minnesota in 2019, when he had a career-best 15 wins.

Dusty Baker likely to be back with Astros, James Click in limbo

Dusty Baker received a one-year offer to manage the Astros in 2023, and his return is said to be likely. Baker, 73, seems to be OK going one year at a time.

Astros GM James Click also is believed to have received a one-year extension offer on a contract that expired Oct. 31, which obviously isn’t much of a reward for a young GM after winning the World Series. Click told reporters in Las Vegas he’s “in discussions” about a new deal, though it isn’t known whether Astros owner Jim Crane is willing to alter the one-year offer, which is stunningly light following two straight World Series appearances. Click didn’t reveal any upset about a situation that is said to be upsetting, it’s unknown whether he will accept a one-year deal ...

This year’s World Series is 2nd-least watched on TV

The Houston Astros’ six-game victory over the Philadelphia Phillies finished as the second least-watched World Series on television.

The six games averaged 11,784,000 on Fox, down 1.3% from the 11,940,000 for the Atlanta Braves’ six-game win over the Astros last year and ahead of only the 9,946,000 for the Los Angeles Dodgers’ six-game victory over the Tampa Bay Rays in 2020.

Houston’s 3-1 win in Game 6 on Saturday night was seen by 12,549,000 viewers on Fox, down 11% from 14,140,000 Atlanta’s 7-0 victory over the Astros in last year’s finale, played on a Tuesday night. Including Fox Deportes and streaming, this year’s Game 6 was viewed by 12,871,000.

Game 6 was played opposite several college football games, including ...

Arizona Fall League 40-man roster Rule 5 Draft 2022

Does he hit with enough power and can he find a defensive home?

Edouard Julien, 2B, Twins (No. 14): The 2019 18th-rounder out of Auburn has won not one, but two Player of the Week honors already and is certainly in contention for AFL MVP—an award won by fellow Twin Royce Lewis in 2019. Entering this week, Julien leads the Fall League in OBP (.535), slugging (.683), OPS (1.218), walks (20) and runs scored (21) through 19 games with Glendale. His .365 average, five homers and 10 extra-base hits also ranked among the top five in the loop.

Julien already showed a strong approach that led to a .300/.441/.490 line and 19.3 percent walk rate over 508 plate appearances at Double-A Wichita during the regular season, making him a likely add for ...

A little further down the pipeline, these are 8 Cardinals prospects to keep tabs on

I love this type of deep dive on lower level prospects in a system. It’s helped me find hidden gems with late draft picks.

Ty Cobb, Hugh Chalmers, and the Conspiracy that Launched Baseball’s MVP Award

“Of course, any publicity is good publicity … until it’s not. A well-timed scandal was priceless, but Chalmers understood that for the award to have any credibility moving forward, he would have to avoid a repeat of the 1910 batting-race fiasco.”

It’s MLB awards season! A little history for ya.

Sisolak, county officials: No tax money for A’s ballpark

Although the Oakland Athletics are looking for public financial assistance if they are to move to Las Vegas and build a MLB ballpark, state and local officials say the appetite to provide that is not there.

Gov. Steve Sisolak, who played a major role in the deal that landed the Raiders $750 million in public funds that went toward the construction of Allegiant Stadium and ultimately landed the Raiders in Las Vegas, said Saturday that type of deal isn’t on the table for the A’s.

The Raiders’ tax deal, a 0.88 percent hotel room tax in Clark County set up to recoup the massive investment, was a one-time thing for pro sports, Sisolak said. With Las Vegas proving to be a thriving major league professional sports market, there isn’t a ...

Why Cubs might be early favorite for Japanese star Koudai Senga - NBC Sports Chicago

Wolfe, who also represents Yu Darvish, the former Japanese star and Cubs Cy Young runner-up, sees the Cubs as a natural fit for his latest client, who — unlike Suzuki a year ago — is not tied to posting fee because the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks held onto him until their club control expired.

And NBC Sports Chicago’s Dave Kaplan has reported the Cubs are “very interested” in Senga.